TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – Iran has reached an agreement with Russia to buy 60 million doses of Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on Thursday.
The report quoted Iranian ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali as saying the contract had been ‘signed and finalized’ for enough vaccinations to vaccinate 30 million people.
Jalali said Iran would receive the vaccines by the end of the year.
On Saturday, Iran began a ten-day shutdown amid a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.
Authorities have ordered that most shops be closed and offices limited to a third capacity in cities declared as the “red zones” with the highest infection rates.
The capital Tehran and 250 other cities and towns across the country have been declared red zones. They have the highest virus positivity and the strictest restrictions. More than 85% of the country now has a red or orange – slightly lower – infection status, authorities said.
The severe increase in infections follows a two-week public holiday for Nowruz, the Persian New Year. Millions traveled to the Caspian coast and other popular holiday destinations, packing markets to buy new clothes and toys, and gathering in homes for parties in violation of government health guidelines.
The new lock restricts access to parks, restaurants, bakeries, beauty salons, shopping malls and bookstores.
There was apparently no delay in sight of the spread of the virus as the explosion of the vaccine was delayed by Iran. Only about 200,000 doses were administered in the country of 84 million, according to the World Health Organization.
COVAX, an international collaboration to deliver the vaccine directly around the world, delivered its first shipment from the Netherlands to Iran on Monday, with 700,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Iran began the human testing phase of its homemade vaccine in December, which it is expected to distribute in the spring. The country has also begun work on a joint vaccine with Cuba. It is also planned to import approximately 17 million doses of vaccine from COVAX and millions of doses from other countries.
Iran says several factors have played a role in the growing number of cases, but insists the biggest culprit was the British variant of the virus that invaded Iran from Iraq.
Earlier this year, the country launched its coronavirus vaccination campaign, which administered a limited number of Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses to medical workers.