TEHRAN, Iran, May 18
Trend:
Iran's private sector will import the COVID-19 vaccine from next week, said the head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Masoud Khansari, Trend reports citing Mehr News Agency.
"It was expected that 6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine would be imported, but the import was delayed due to bureaucracy," he said.
"Three private companies have applied to import the vaccine in the past three days and have found new resources for import, therefore the coronavirus vaccine will be imported in the coming weeks," 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.