Iran Receives 2nd Consignment of Sputnik-V Vaccines

Iran received on Friday the second consignment of Russian-made Sputnik-V vaccines developed to curb the COVID-19 contagious disease, according to a Health Ministry official.
In a tweet on Friday evening, Kianoush Jahanpour, the Iranian Health Ministry’s head of the public relations and information center, announced the new batch had just arrived in the country earlier than originally planned. “Moments earlier, the second shipment of Sputnik vaccine, including 100,000 doses of the vaccine, arrived in Tehran a few days ahead of schedule,” he tweeted.
“After labeling and coding in the [Tracing, Tracking and Authentication Control] TTAC system, this consignment will be distributed in the country's health network for the vaccination of front-line health workers,” Jahanpour added. The first shipment of the Sputnik-V vaccine arrived in Tehran on February 4. The second batch had been scheduled to be imported on February 18, and the third consignment has been planned to be received on February 28. Iran has also purchased 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from COVAX, a multi-agency group dedicated to assuring fair access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. At the same time, the country has developed domestic vaccines against the coronavirus, one of which launched its human trial last December after successfully completing the initial steps and obtaining necessary approvals. - Mehr