The chairman of Iran’s Drug Importers Union announced signing several contacts to import of total 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines into the country by mid-December, Trend reports citing IRNA.

“Covid-19 vaccine producers around the world have pre-sold their vaccines to governments by the end of 2021 with the aim of vaccinating high-risk groups of countries with the lowest profits,” Nasser Riahi said.

Riahi added that several contracts signed to purchase vaccines, included 30 to 50 million doses from Russia, but the country has yet to deliver them.

“It was also decided to receive 50 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China, half of which has been imported so far, and the process of importing the rest vaccines from South Korea and China continues,” he noted.

Riahi went on to say that the import of AstraZeneca vaccines from different countries continues.

Referring to the private sector`s effort to import the Covid-19 vaccine into the country, he said that apart from the government, the private sector has made purchases to vaccinate the personnel of production units.

He emphasized that Iran is ready to import 20 million doses of Pfizer vaccine.

Referring to Iran’s quota from the COVAX vaccine basket, he stated that the payment of vaccines to Pfizer, Johnson and Moderna companies will be done through the World Health Organization, due to the Iranian problem with international banking system.

“Each of these companies is willing to send 20 million doses of Covid-10 vaccine to Iran, but due to the low temperature and transportation considerations, these vaccines will enter into the country over time,” he said.

Riahi indicated that the imported vaccines can be stored in a standard freezer for up to a month.

Source: TREND News Agency