Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to receive Iranian-made vaccine in next few days – medical academy chief

Iran’s supreme leader will receive the domestically-developed COVIran Barakat coronavirus vaccine in the near future, the country’s top doctor has said.

Alireza Marandi, the head of Iran’s Academy of Medical Sciences, told khamenei.ir that Khamenei will be given the COVIran Barakat vaccine in the coming days, which was developed by state-owned firm Shifa Pharmed.

Marandi said Khamenei did not want to skip his turn, and has only agreed to receive a homegrown vaccine. 

For this reason, when the vaccination of our compatriots over the age of 80 started, [Khamenei] refused to receive the foreign vaccine and waited for the Iranian vaccine.

Khamenei banned the import of vaccines manufactured by the US and the UK earlier this year, citing distrust towards the two nations. The Islamic Republic eventually allowed the use of the Russian-made Sputnik V and Indian-made Covaxin, as well as the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine purchased through the COVAX scheme.

COVIran was cleared for emergency use this month. The Mehr News Agency cited Mohammad-Reza Shanesaz, the head of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, as saying that those who have received a dose of a foreign-made vaccine can use COVIran as their second dose. 

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