Starting Sunday, Iran began offering coronavirus vaccines to children of school-age between 12 to 18 years old to prepare the ground for school reopenings over the next few months.
“Based on clinical trial results, the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine will be administered to this age group,” Health Minister Bahram Einollahi was quoted as saying by ISNA.
Einollahi noted that the next step would be the immunization of children between the ages of 7 to 12.
“Children need to receive both shots before schools can resume activities,” he said. “We have recommended that vaccination hubs prioritize students.”
Iran closed down schools and universities and switched to distance learning when the pandemic first began in the country back in February 2020.
The minister also said that now is the best opportunity for mass vaccination as the fifth wave of the pandemic is slowing down. “If an infected person gets vaccinated, it’ll aggravate their symptoms.”
The Health Ministry on Sunday registered 15,900 confirmed cases of Covid-19, down from an all-time high of 50,000 during the peak of the disease.
It also logged 391 overnight deaths which took the national toll to 117,180.
Iran has given out some 43.3 million coronavirus vaccine shots since February. More than 29.4 million have received a first dose and 13.9 million have been fully vaccinated.
The government plans to bring in 12 million vaccine doses for children as young as three as well as teenagers to stem the spread of the contagion, Iran’s Ambassador to China Mohammad Keshavarzzadeh said.
“Over the next two weeks, 12 million jabs suited for use by children between the ages of 3 to 18 will be imported,” he said.
In his interview with state TV, the official informed that 60 more million jabs of Sinopharm will arrive into the country in the next one and a half months.
