A total of six million doses of Chinese-made Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines have arrived at the Imam Khomeini International Airport, the technical deputy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration said on Oct. 31.
With the new shipment, the total volume of Covid-19 vaccines imported to Iran exceeded 146 million doses.
“This shipment, along with the next two to three shipments, are the last consignments of imported vaccines. Due to the abundance of vaccines in the country, imports will probably stop until further notice,” Mehrdad Jamal Arvanaqi was quoted as saying by IRIB News.
Sinopharm has the lion’s share of imported vaccines.
The Red Crescent Society of Iran is the main importer of the vaccines.
Covid-19 vaccine imports set a record in the last fiscal month, as more than 60 million doses entered Iran in the seventh month of the current fiscal year (Sept. 23-Oct. 22).
The total value of all Covid-19 vaccines imported to Iran from Feb. 3 to Sept. 12 stood at $421 million, Arvanaghi said earlier.
“Each Sinopharm vaccine made in China costs $9.2, AstraZeneca made in China $4, AstraZeneca made in Japan $4, COVAX made in Italy $4, Sputnik V made in Russia $10, AstraZeneca made in Russia $6.5, COVAX made in South Korea $4 and AstraZeneca made in Austria $4 and Bharat [COVAXIN] made in India $14.5,” he added.
Besides China, Iran imports Covid jabs from Russia, Japan, Italy, Russia, India, Austria, Germany, South Korea and Greece.
Some of the imported vaccines have been donated to Iran.
A shipment from South Korea was the latest to have been donated.
One million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines from South Korea have arrived in Tehran, the English-language South Korean television network Arirang TV reported on Oct. 28.
South Korea is providing Covid-19 vaccines to Iran, as the country looks to use them as diplomatic leverage with formidable progress in the nationwide vaccination scheme, the Korea Herald reported earlier.
The report described the donation as a means to celebrate the 60-year relationship between South Korea and Iran.
Earlier, the Polish Foreign Ministry announced that Poland had donated one million Covid-19 vaccines to Iran in an expression of solidarity with the Iranian people.
The ministry said the vaccines had arrived at Tehran’s airport on Oct. 16.
The ministry also said the donation was an expression of solidarity with Iranians, with whom Poland has had a good, centuries-old relationship, while adding that Poland had an adequate supply of vaccines to sufficiently cover its domestic needs.
