TEHRAN, Iran, July 12
Trend:
Iran's private sector imported some 3 million of 'AstraZeneca' COVID-19 vaccine from India, Chairman of Iran's Drug Importers Association Nasser Riahi told Trend.
"The export license from India, which was supposed to be signed by the prime minister, has not been issued yet,” he said.
"We have opened a Letter of Credit and in any case we own the vaccines that the Iranian private sector has purchased," he said.
He added that the vaccines are being brought to Iran gradually, and the entire batch will be in Iran by September.
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.