BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 11
By Elnur Baghishov – Trend:
Iran will become one of the centers on coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine production in the region in the next 2-3 months, Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki said, Trend reports citing the IRINN.
The minister emphasized that thus, Iran will become one of the exporters of the coronavirus vaccine.
Namaki added that that the vaccines produced in Iran were prepared as a result of the efforts of local specialists.
As reported, three coronavirus vaccines are being tested in Iran. These vaccines are Pastor, Razi, and Barakat.
On Feb. 11, a number of hospitals were opened in 7 provinces of Iran. A total of 13.5 trillion rials (about $322 million) was spent on the construction of these hospitals and 1,710 people were employed.
Iran continues to monitor the coronavirus situation in the country. According to recent reports from Iranian officials, over 1.48 million people have been infected, and 58,686 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 1.27 million people have reportedly recovered from the disease.
The country continues to apply strict measures to contain further spread. 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 only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19.
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.