IRAN SET TO BEGIN HUMAN TRIALS OF ITS HOMEGROWN VACCINE

Mon 28 December 2020:

Iran is due to start testing a domestically produced coronavirus vaccine on human subjects as the country continues to face difficulties in importing sufficient quantities of vaccines due to US sanctions.

The only Iranian-made vaccine to clear animal trials so far, produced by Shifa Pharmed, aims to complete limited tests on 56 volunteers in its initial stage. The tests are expected to last a month, health officials said.

More than 60,000 people signed up for the trials since a call for volunteers was issued by the health ministry last week.

On Monday, a health ministry official said seven other Iranian vaccines are expected to clear animal trials by late February.

“We have a history of manufacturing vaccines at the medical institutes,” Minister of Health Saeed Namaki said on Sunday. “We will prove … that our local vaccine will be superior to many vaccines manufactured around the world.”

Iran has managed to bring its daily COVID-19 fatalities to below 120 this week after more than three months by enforcing partial shutdowns, night-time curfews and continued a ban on intra-city travel.

With close to 55,000 deaths and 1.2 million infections, Iran has been the hardest-hit country in the Middle East.