Final Phase III Trials of Barekat Covid Vaccine Start in Six Cities

Iran started final phase III clinical trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine COV Iran Barekat involving 20,000 volunteers across six cities.
The trials commenced at Tehran’s Eram Grand Hotel on Sunday when a leading member of the team behind Barekat, Minou Mohrez, was among the first ones to receive the injection, IRNA reported. 
“I’ve participated in the trial because the Barekat vaccine is safe and effective,” Mohrez, also a member of the National Coronavirus Headquarters, said.
Human testing on the homegrown vaccine is underway in Tehran, Bushehr, Shiraz, Karaj, Isfahan and Mashhad on participants between the ages of 18 to 70.
Mohrez said, “COV Iran Barekat has proven effective on the British variant of the coronavirus.” 
The British strain is the dominant coronavirus variant in Iran.
During the event, the head of the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, affiliated with Barekat Pharmaceutical Group, said they can roll out 12 million shots of the vaccine by late July.
Mohammad Mokhber added, “We’ll deliver a total of nearly 30 million jabs to the Health Ministry by late August.”
By the end of summer, EIKO aims to manufacture 20 million doses per month, adding that public concerns over Covid-19 vaccination will be alleviated in three to four months.
The efficacy of the vaccine is set to be determined by the end of spring. COV Iran Barekat is the country’s first homemade vaccine to reach phase three of human testing. 
Phase three of clinical trials of Pasteur Institute of Iran’s jointly produced vaccine with Cuba was launched last month.

Indian Variant Not Detected

India’s double mutant Covid-19 variant has not yet been detected in Iran, but its entry is expected, the head of the Health Ministry’s Public Relations Department, Kianoush Jahanpour, said.
Asked by IRNA whether any case of the Indian variant has been reported, Jahanpour said, “No case hasbeen registered but we should expect the virus’s arrival into the country.”
The highly contagious new strain has overwhelmed India’s healthcare system and infected as many as 350,000 people in one day.
Iran has banned travel to and from India and Pakistan to prevent the double mutation from crossing borders but since the strain has been circulating in India for months, experts are not optimistic about being able to stave off the new variant.
According to the Health Ministry’s briefing on Sunday, 19,100 people have contracted the coronavirus and 3,000 of them were hospitalized, taking the national tally to 2.396 million. 
Fatalities caused by the viral infection spiked to 454 on Sunday, the highest toll since late November when the third wave peaked, pushing the national total to 69,574. 
Over 1.87 million have recovered from the infectious disease so far and some 5,200 have been admitted to ICU units.
Iran has administered more than 15.1 million diagnostic tests since the start of the pandemic, the Health Ministry said.
The total number of Covid-19 cases around the world rose to 147.1 million on Sunday and fatalities reached 3.11 million.