National
0

Iran to Launch Human Trials of Covid-19 Vaccine

Iran to Launch Human Trials of Covid-19 Vaccine
Iran to Launch Human Trials of Covid-19 Vaccine

Iran is set to start human trials for a locally-developed Covid-19 vaccine within days, vaccinating 56 volunteers in the first stage of the trial, a member of the National Coronavirus Headquarters’ Science Committee said on Monday.
Minou Mohrez added that in the next seven days, they will begin human trials of an experimental vaccine on volunteers between the ages of 18 and 50 who have never contracted the novel coronavirus, IRNA reported.
“The first phase of the human trials of the Iranian Covid-19 vaccine will start with 56 people. In this phase, each participant gets two injections, two weeks apart,” she said.
Mohrez, who is also a member of the research team behind the vaccine, says if the trials go smoothly, mass production can begin by the start of summer. 
Volunteers for the first phase of the trial will receive a gift and obtain insurance coverage.
Over 1.5 million around the world have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as of Monday, a majority of them from Russia, Britain and the United States.
According to Mohrez, Iran’s approach to vaccine involves the injection of a weakened virus to trigger the body’s immune system. 
The best Covid-19 vaccine, effective in 95% of the cases, has been developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, which employs the latest technology to manufacture an mRNA vaccine that teaches the genetic code of human cells to produce vital proteins that can enable the body to fight the coronavirus.
Despite hopes of a local vaccine, the government is also trying to procure the Covid-19 vaccine from one of the several companies that have manufactured it.
“For now, the vaccine needs to be procured for high-risk groups and health personnel who are in direct contact with patients,” Mohrez said.

 

 

Daily Covid-19 Update

The Health Ministry registered 6,150 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Monday, pushing the total number of patients to 1.164 million, Sima Sadat Lari, the spokeswoman of Health Ministry, said.
“Over the past 24 hours, 191 coronavirus patients have lost their lives and the death toll reached 53,816,” she said.
Lari noted that more than 894,000 patients have recovered from the respiratory illness or been discharged from hospitals and some 5,500 are in hospitalized in intensive care units.
“Iran has administered 7.09 million diagnostic tests since the start of the pandemic,” she said.
Coronavirus infections worldwide exceeded 77.2 million and fatalities have risen to 1.7 million.
 

Add new comment

Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints

Financialtribune.com