TEHRAN, Iran, June 26
Trend:
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei received his first dose of COVIran Barakat vaccine, Trend reports.
"While it was persisted that I use foreign vaccine, I was not interested. So i said I'd wait for a local vaccine, so we would be able to honor this national achievement," Khamenei explained.
"Although when it is needed, it is reasonable to use foreign vaccine alongside the local one, but we should respect the Iranian vaccine and appreciate all the young scientists and centers that are working on manufacturing the vaccine," he said.
"Today individuals over the age of 80 including myself, are mostly vaccinated. Scientific documents and articles about vaccine should be issued for the world acknowledgment alongside strong and fast vaccine production," he said.
Iran continues to monitor the coronavirus situation in the country. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease.
The Islamic Republic of Iran only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. The pandemic hit a wide range of businesses in Iran since its outbreak in mid-February.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019.