Iran Produces Russia’s Sputnik V Covid Vaccine

Health Minister Saeed Namaki on Saturday attended the unveiling of locally-produced Sputnik V vaccines originally developed by Russia, Iran’s latest attempt at ramping up vaccine rollout.
The ceremony was held in Alborz Province by local pharmaceutical company, Actover Group, which is jointly manufacturing the vaccine with Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute, IRNA reported.
Reza Mostofi, head of the company, pointed out that Actover Group possessed the necessary technology to produce Russia’s Sputnik V.
“Actover Group will have the capacity to manufacture two million jabs of Sputnik V per month,” Mostofi said.
Iran launched its inoculation campaign with Sputnik V vaccines delivered by Moscow in late February. The vaccine is administered in two doses with a three-week gap and has an efficacy rate of 91.6%, according to trial results.
Data from Argentina’s inoculation program shows that a single dose of Sputnik V can reduce death rate in people over the age of 60 by 70% to 80%.
“The vaccine will soon be approved for use,” head of the Health Ministry’s public relations, Kianoush Jahanpour, said, noting that the summer of 2021 was a turning point in Iran’s history of vaccine production.
Last week, Iran issued emergency use authorization for a local coronavirus vaccine dubbed COV-Iran Barekat, aiming to accelerate its inoculation program with domestic vaccine production.
“Over the course of this week, we’ll give the greenlight for the emergency use of another local coronavirus vaccine developed by Pasteur Institute of Iran,” Jahanpour said. 
Pasteur Institute of Iran jointly produced the vaccine with Cuba’s Finaly Institute of Vaccines. Phase Three of clinical trials for Pasteurcovac was carried out both in Cuba and Iran. 
So far, 4.416 million Iranians have received the first dose of a Covid vaccine and 1.196 million have been fully vaccinated, bringing the total number of doses administered to 5.612 million.