Dr. Alireza Biglari, Head of Pasteur Institute, made the remarks in a ceremony held at Hamedan Medical Sciences University in western Iranian Province of Hamedan, during which the 3rd clinical trial phase of joint anti-Covid-19 vaccine made by the Iranian Pasteur Institute and Cuban Finlay Institute began on Saturday morning.
The Pasteur Institute head said that while many did not expect Iran to be able to produce the anti-corona vaccine under the tough and cruel sanctions, the country has made effective steps in that regard.
He said that the world needs 16 billion doses of vaccine for the first time in history, and if all pharmaceutical companies are operating at full capacity, they will not be able to produce a third of that figure by the end of 2021.
He said that the 100-year-old Tehran-based Pasteur Institute began working on the production of the anti-Covid-19 vaccine since the very start of the pandemic.
He added that the Iranian Health Ministry suggested the Pasteur Institute to jointly produce an anti-corona vaccine with a company from other countries, and after studying 14 different vaccines developed in different countries the Iranian institute decided to work with Cuba given its long history of cooperation with Pasteur Institute.
He said the vaccine that was offered by Cuba was a safe, recombinant vaccine with no side effects in the first two stages of injection.
He added that another domestic vaccine is being prepared at the Pasteur Institute of Iran using highly advanced technologies, the animal phase studies of which are completed and will soon enter the human phase.
Biglari went on to say that 1m doses of anti-Cov-19 vaccines will be produced in the institute by June, adding that if it gets mass-production approval, 1m doses will be produced each month starting from July.
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