BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.10
Trend:
Iran has a special facility for joint production of coronavirus vaccine ('Sputnik V') with Russia, and it could be exported at a later stage, said Iran's Deputy Health Minister Mohammad Reza Shanesaz, Trend reports via IRNA.
"Iran's geographical location in the Persian Gulf region and its friendly relations with neighbor countries would create possibility for Iran to satisfy their needs, if Russian companies would cooperate with Iran," said Shanesaz.
"This would be a win-win game for all and companies that are participating," he said.
"The main step is to satisfy Iran's needs and next step would be export," he said.
"Vaccine would be free for Iranians, at the moment the groups that have priority would receive free vaccine but the vaccination plan for the next months has not been announced yet," 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.