Iran authorizes emergency use of 1st locally developed Covid-19 vaccine

Tehran, Jun 14 (EFE).- Iranian authorities have approved the emergency use of the first locally developed coronavirus vaccine although phase III clinical trials have yet to be concluded, the health ministry announced on Monday.

The jab, dubbed COVIRAN Barekat, will be administered “from next week,” health minister Saeed Namaki said, adding that it was authorized after “a reasonable time” of phase three trials had passed. The finals stage of testing began on 25 April.

The vaccine can cause rare and minor side effects but it is effective against the different variants of the coronavirus, according to researchers of Execution of the Order of Imam Khomeini, the government body that has developed the jab.

COVIRAN Barekat, whose efficiency rate has not been revealed, will help speed up a rollout that has been struggling with a shortage of doses of the Sputnik V, Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines.

A total of 4,354,445 people have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 850,000 have been fully immunized in a country of over 80 million inhabitants. EFE

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