Administrative obstacles are slowing down the import of Covid-19 vaccines into Iran.
Masoud Khansari, the head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, made the statement in his write-up published in the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad. The full text of the article follows:
Following the outbreak of Covid-19 in March 2019, Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture launched a campaign named “Breath”, in cooperation with other provincial chambers to fulfill its social responsibility at the time of this health crisis.
It provided over 1,500 billion rials ($5.8 million) worth of medical equipment such as ventilators for 281 hospitals and distributed more than 70,000 financial assistance packages among the needy last summer.
TCCIM also tried to help businesses hurt by the crisis. In March 2021, however, it became clear the country was facing challenges regarding the import of Covid-19 vaccines.
Industries and manufacturing enterprises were under intense pressure due to coronavirus closures, mortalities and costs associated with the regular testing of employees. They expected new opportunities for vaccinating their workforce.
The general public needs to become fully aware of vaccine import procedure by the private sector. Therefore, we expounded on the reasons behind the private sector’s interest in vaccines, as the government’s capability to import was hit by sanctions.
Secondly, vaccine imports by the private sector do not conflict with the government’s national vaccination drive. Thirdly, vaccines imported by the private sector will be distributed under the supervision of the National Coronavirus Headquarters. And fourthly, these vaccines will be put at the disposal of manufacturing and industrial sectors’ workers free of charge, their costs will be paid by employers and the foreign currency allocated for the import of these vaccines will be provided at the open market rate or the rate of the so-called secondary FX market, known by its Persian acronym Nima.
[The first batch of Covid-19 vaccines imported by private sector arrived in Iran from Russia on July 28. According to Nasser Riahi, the chairman of Iranian Pharmaceutical Importers Association, the shipment contained 320,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was the first batch of a larger order placed by the private sector. “By August 22, one million doses of vaccines under this contract will be imported,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.]
Fortunately, a number of well-known companies have imported vaccines in the past. They managed to place an order for the purchase of six million doses of Sputnik V and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccinse. In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani on April 4, TCCIM underlined the importance of the speedy import of vaccines to save more lives.
All large and small companies, even those active in the services sector, agreed to extend 15,000 billion rials ($58 million) for the import of these vaccines. They even acknowledged that they were ready to pay for the vaccination of residents of rural and urban areas located in the vicinity of industrial factories. Others said they would pay for the imports that would be given to NCH to vaccinate people. This indicates that the private sector was a frontrunner in paying the costs of vaccination for the general public.
At this stage and following the approval of the president, the pro forma invoice of six million doses of vaccine were received from seller companies and sent to the Health Ministry.
[A pro forma invoice is a preliminary bill or estimated invoice used to request payment from the committed buyer for goods or services before they are supplied.]
It was vital that the import procedure is finalized at a faster pace without bureaucratic barriers, but unfortunately these complexities blew up the opportunity since sellers insisted on the Iranian government approving the purchases. For a month, the chamber was urging the Health Ministry to secure the approval letter. We talked almost with all high-ranking officials, all of them – be they in the government, or in the parliament – promised to cooperate, but the pro forma invoice was valid for only a week.
We missed the opportunity to buy a million doses of vaccine due to lack of cooperation. The world faced another wave of Covid-19 in June and countries limited their exports.
TCCIM tried to find another source. This time, importer companies tried to purchase three million doses of AstraZeneca from India on their own credit. But due to India’s worsening Covid crisis, the country banned exports. Credit documents regarding imports from India are still valid and hopefully the Asian country will lift the ban on imports.
In the meantime, a renowned company has managed to import a substantial number of AstraZeneca vaccines using the government’s subsidized foreign currency at the rate of 42,000 rials per US dollar and give them to the Health Ministry, two shipments of which have arrived in the country so far.
It was our wish to see the private sector supply vaccines needed by the Health Ministry, industries, manufacturing companies and workers from the beginning of the current year [March 21]. Vaccines can save lives particularly at a time when, contrary to the promises, the domestic vaccines are not in sight.
Sadly, Iran’s bureaucratic system does not act efficiently in the face of emergencies. One might say this much of stonewalling is intentional, as there’s no reason to think vaccine imports by the private sector would endanger the vested interests of some people.
