Last Phase of Covid Vaccination Could Start in Late July

President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday expressed hope that the production of homegrown vaccines coupled with more imports could lead to the start of mass vaccination for Iranians by late July.
Noting the country’s capacity to administer 500,000 shots a day, Rouhani said, “We could begin the mass immunization program by late July and finish it by December.”
Speaking at a National Coronavirus Headquarters’ meeting, the president stated that some 878 centers have been set up for Covid-19 inoculation, which are able to immunize 200,000 people every day, “We can increase that capacity to 500,000 a day.”
So far, 3.337 million have received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and over 508,000 have been fully vaccinated, taking the total number of shots administered across the country to 3.846 million. 
Rouhani said, “We’re doing our best to reach calm in the country by the end of this government’s term in regards with the coronavirus pandemic.”
According to the president, some five million vaccine jabs have been distributed throughout the country. Iran concluded the vaccination of over 80-year-old people and it is currently immunizing people over the age of 70. 
“We’ll be in better circumstances in July if locally-manufactured vaccines become available in the market by late June,” the top official said.
Five homegrown vaccines have obtained regulatory approval to carry out human trials. Two of these vaccines are expected to hit the market over the next two months, Pasteur Institute of Iran’s joint production of an experimental vaccine with Cuba and a vaccine made by the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order, dubbed Barekat,  

Indian Variant

At least five southern provinces are registering a rise in Covid-19 cases, triggered by the Indian mutation of the original coronavirus, spokesman for the NCH, Alireza Raeisi, warned.
“The disease is on the decline in most provinces and the death rate is dropping,” the health official said. “But in some cities southern and southeastern provinces, we’re seeing a rise in infections.”
The Indian variant of the coronavirus is extremely contagious and it is spreading in provinces Bushehr, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Kermanshah and Hormozgan.
“With the slightest mistake, the Indian strain can spread in most cities. This is a warning,” the health official pointed out.
The Indian variant, also known as B.1.617.2., is a variant of concern (VOC) and it has become the dominant strain in the United Kingdom and India. Covid-19 vaccines have shown to be effective against the Indian variant.
The Health Ministry reported 173 overnight fatalities on Saturday, taking the national death toll to 79,741. Some 7,100 patients tested positive for Covid-19, taking the country’s case tally to 2.893 million.
Over the past ten days, 421 became infected with the disease and eight to nine lost their lives to it every hour. Some 635 recovered from the contagion every hour. 
More than 170.1 million have contracted the infectious disease since the start of the outbreak in late 2019 and more than 3.5 million have died from it.