TEHRAN, Iran, July 9
Trend:
The major COVID-19 vaccines used in Iran are imported from China, Chairman of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce Majidreza Hariri told Trend
He said that the issue of importing vaccines is being pursued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Iranian Embassy in Beijing, and the private sector has no role in this matter.
"Over 90 percent of Iran's vaccine imports came from China," Hariri said. “A limited amount of AstraZeneca vaccine is imported from India and South Korea, and a small amount of vaccine is imported from Russia.”
He went on to say that of the 6 million vaccines already used in Iran, about 5 million were the ones imported from China.
Hariri said negotiations to buy more vaccines are underway and that new shipments of Chinese vaccine are to arrive in the coming days.
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.