Over 25.5m Doses of Covid Vaccines Imported So Far

A shipment containing 25,000 doses of Russian Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, donated by Serbia arrived at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport in the early hours of August 21.
The announcement was made by Mehrdad Jamal Orounaqi, technical deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Young Journalists Club reported. 
A total of 25.57 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been imported since Feb. 3, 2021.
The vaccines have been shipped from China, Japan, Russia, Italy, South Korea and India, Mehr News Agency reported.
“About 75-80% of Iran’s Covid-19 vaccine imports have come from China,” Majid Reza Hariri, the chairman of Iran-China Chamber of Commerce, told ILNA.
Notably, the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines imported by the private sector arrived in Iran from Russia on July 28.  
According to Nasser Riahi, chairman of Iranian Pharmaceutical Importers Association, the shipment includes 320,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine; it is the first batch of a larger order placed by the private sector. 
“Nearly 380,000 doses will arrive next week and by August 22, one million doses of vaccines under this contract will be imported,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA.
“This shipment has nothing to do with the proposal made by Iran Chamber of Commerce on vaccination of workers. These vaccines were purchased by a private company and put at the disposal of Health Ministry to be used for the vaccination of the general public.” 
Cobel Darou, one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Iran, is the importer of these vaccines from the Russian drug-maker R-Pharm, ILNA reported.
Earlier this year, the private sector announced it has signed a deal to import six million doses of Covid-19 vaccines.
“Imports of the vaccines will be financed by business owners, manufacturers and executive managers of companies at the market exchange rate for the free vaccination of workers,” Masoud Khansari, the head of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, said then. 
“Notably, importers will supply the vaccine on a not-for-profit basis and with the license issued by Health Ministry and supervision of the National Coronavirus Headquarters,” he was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency. 
Administrative burdens are slowing down the movement of Covid-19 vaccines into Iran, Khansari told the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad.
Noting that several companies managed to place an order for the purchase of six million doses of Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines and that all large and small companies, even those active in services, agreed to finance over 15,000 billion rials ($58 million) for importing these vaccines, he said the pro forma invoice of these doses was 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 finalize at a faster pace without common bureaucratic barriers but unfortunately these bureaucratic complexities blew up the opportunity, since sellers insisted on the Iranian government approving the purchases. For a month, the chamber was jostling with the Health Ministry to secure the approval letter. We talked almost with all high-ranking officials; all of them in the government or in the parliament promised to cooperate but the pro forma invoice was only valid for a week,” the TCCIM chief said.
“We missed the opportunity to buy a million doses of vaccine due to lack of collaboration. 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 soon.”
In the meantime, a well-known company has managed to import a significant volume 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 so far arrived in the country.    
“Sadly, Iran’s bureaucratic system is not ready at all for reacting efficiently in the face of emergencies. Somehow, one might say this type of stonewalling was intentional; there’s no reason to think vaccine imports by the private sector won’t endanger the interests of some people,” he concluded.