Iran halts COVID vaccine imports amid rising domestic output

Iranian customs office (IRICA) data shows the country has halted commercial imports of coronavirus vaccines because of a major surge in domestic output reported in recent weeks.

IRICA Spokesman Rouhollah Latifi said on Monday that Iran will continue to take delivery of coronavirus vaccines donated by other countries and international institutions.

The official said, however, that the country has temporarily halted placing orders for foreign brands of vaccines both because of a rise in domestic manufacturing and the fact that a majority of people in Iran had received two or three doses of vaccines needed to become inoculated against the coronavirus.

The comments came as Iran took delivery of over 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines donated by Germany earlier on Monday. Officials said another part of the consignment containing nearly 780,000 doses was due to arrive later in the day.  

IRICA figures show that Iran has imported more than 158 million doses of coronavirus vaccines since February 2020 when the disease was first detected in the country.

A bulk of those jabs have been imported from China while vaccines manufactured outside the United States and Britain have also been cleared for shipment into Iran.

MG