Iran "Emergency Approval of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] Iran has granted emergency approval for the use of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, according to the state-run IRNA news agency on the 11th (local time).

Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesperson for the Iran Food and Drug Administration, announced on the same day, "Emergency use approval for the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine has been granted."

This is the third time Iran has approved emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine, following Russia's Sputnik V and South Korea-produced AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines.

According to IRNA, Iranian authorities plan to import 250,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine soon after consultations with the Chinese government.

The preventive efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine is 79%, which is about 15 percentage points lower compared to the vaccines developed by the American pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer.

However, its advantages include long-term storage at room temperature and low cost.

Since last month, Iran has imported 700,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and is vaccinating priority groups first.

Iran also plans to import 3.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from South Korea.

As of the previous day, Iran reported 8,603 new daily COVID-19 cases and 61 deaths.

So far, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Iran is approximately 1,711,000 (15th worldwide), and deaths total about 60,900 (11th worldwide).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.