82-Year-Old Iranian Supreme Leader Receives Self-Developed COVID-19 Vaccine Injection

▲Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei receiving his country's domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, 'COVIRAN'. [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Iran's Supreme Leader has received the domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, CovIran.

On the 25th (local time), according to the Supreme Leader's office, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was vaccinated with CovIran, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by a state-owned pharmaceutical company.

After the vaccination, Khamenei said, "I have long been advised to get vaccinated, but I did not want to receive a vaccine not developed by Iran," adding, "I waited for the domestic vaccine according to God's will."

He also added that the development of the COVID-19 vaccine by Iran's young scientists is a national pride.

The CovIran vaccine is an inactivated vaccine using weakened or dead viruses, developed by Sipa Pharmed, a company under the foundation 'Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO)' operated by the Supreme Leader's office.

EIKO claimed that the preventive efficacy of CovIran was 93.5% in the Phase 2 clinical trial.

The Iran Food and Drug Administration (IFDA) approved the emergency use of CovIran on the 14th.

The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials involving 20,000 participants.

Khamenei, who became Supreme Leader in 1989, is 82 years old this year and banned the import of vaccines produced by Western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom in January.

Vaccines approved for emergency use in Iran include Russia's Sputnik V, China's Sinopharm, 'Covaxin' developed by Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech, and South Korea-made AstraZeneca (AZ).

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