Iran to import 5 million vaccine doses weekly in September: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran will be importing 5 million doses coronavirus vaccines every week in September, Iran’s deputy Minister of Health said on Tuesday, following vaccine shortages and a rise in cases across the country.

“The good news is that starting next week a significant amount of vaccines will enter the country continuously. Five million doses will be imported weekly,” Alireza Raisi said on the sidelines of a meeting with the country’s medical universities.

“We are currently administering an average of 640 to 650,000 doses per day, and there is a potential to double the capacity,” he said, adding that around 27 million doses have been administered so far.

Iran has been a hotspot for the coronavirus in the Middle East since the start of the pandemic, and is currently being hit with the fifth wave of infections as the new Delta variant spreads around the globe.

Iran has officially recorded over 4.96 million cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 107,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), making it the hardest-hit country in the Middle East. The numbers of dead and infected are likely significantly higher than the reported figures.

Coronavirus is the “first and foremost” issue in the country, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in a speech earlier this month.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in January banned the import of all UK and US-made vaccines into the country, claiming they are “untrustworthy."

A black market has emerged for vaccine doses, the Associated Press recently reported, with a dose going for more than $1,000 - out of reach for many Iranians in a country also gripped by economic woes.

Earlier this month Raisi said Iran has secured the purchase of 30 million vaccine doses, which he claimed is half of what is needed to get the current situation under control. According to Iran's health ministry, just over 10 percent of Iranians are fully vaccinated.

On Tuesday, Iran recorded 31,319 new cases, and 643 deaths in 24 hours.