Iranian officials say the country has ordered two million doses of the A/H1N1 flu vaccine, to immunize some one million individuals, Press TV reported.
Deputy Health Minister Hassan Emami-Razavi said the European and Chinese pharmaceuticals have promised to hand in some of this stock in February or March.
Emami-Razavi added that the government has allocated some $20 million for buying the vaccine, stressing that another $10 million will also be added to this amount soon.
The Deputy Health Minister stressed that pregnant women, seniors and those suffering from chronic diseases including asthma, heart diseases, diabetes and cancer along with healthcare workers are the first priorities to receive the vaccine.
Iranian Health Minister Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi told ISNA News Agency that three Iranian centers are to produce A/H1N1 vaccine, adding that the country would not need to import any vaccines from May.
Iran's Health Ministry noted that more than 99 percent of the flu sufferers in the country have healed completely, adding that a small number of them needed to be hospitalized because of having severe symptoms such as respiratory problems, severe bone pain and fever.
She said 55 percent of those who had tested positive for the virus were younger than 24.
Vahid-Dastgerdi said that 30 percent of the population would contract the deadly virus during the two-year pandemic, adding that "adopting simple precautionary measures particularly in schools can effectively contain the virus."
She urged schools to keep an eye on infected students, providing them with isolated classrooms and shutting down the school or classroom when the number of infected cases reached a specific number.
"Unnecessary closure of schools may paradoxically increase the pace of the spread as children will play in parks and on streets whenever schools are closed, a condition which increases contacts and subsequently the spread of the virus," Vahid-Dastjerdi concluded.