TEHRAN (Iran News) – President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is attempting to begin the nationwide vaccination against the COVID-19 pandemic in the current Persian calendar month which ends on February 18.

“In this meeting, it was announced that all efforts are being made to start the vaccination in the country in the month of Bahman, God willing, and this is a very important job,” he told a meeting of the national task force for fighting the coronavirus in Tehran on Saturday.

Rouhani said that in the next Persian calendar year, which starts on March 21, three Iranian vaccines will be available.

Some of these vaccines are completely homegrown and the remaining are joint products, he added.

Iran will receive over 16 million doses of vaccines from COVAX, a multi-agency group dedicated to assuring fair access to vaccines for low- and middle-income countries, Rouhani said, adding that the country will also try to procure vaccines from elsewhere.

“The domestic vaccine is an honor for us, and the foreign vaccine is a necessity … until the domestic one is available,” he emphasized.

He also stated It was not clear how long the Corona deaths will continue.

“We have to thank the people and the medical staff for the achievement, and the death toll has declined to double-digit due to efforts of all,” added he.

Stating that the reduction of the death toll is an honor the president added, “Even though some countries in the world are more powerful in terms of industry and medical facilities, but at the same time their suffering is very high and they are not completely able to control the disease.”

Underlining that the declining death toll does not mean that the conditions are favorable and that 70 people die a day is not a small number as well, Rouhani added, in many areas, the number of death tolls was declining, but in some provinces, it had stopped, and this can be worrying.

Rouhani also voiced concern about the mutation of COVId-19 elsewhere in the world special in Africa.

“The Coronavirus has not only not been weakened in the world, but it also has become more pathogenic and contagious,” he concluded.

Last month, Iran launched human trials of its first domestically-developed COVID-19 vaccine after successfully completing the initial steps and obtaining the necessary approvals.

In parallel with efforts at developing home-made vaccines, Iranian authorities have said the county has plans to purchase foreign brands that pass safety and efficiency tests.

However, inhumane U.S. sanctions have affected Iran’s ability to make the payment for importing vaccines as well as life-saving medical equipment.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has banned the import of COVID-19 vaccines from the United States and Britain but allowing the Iranian government to supply the vaccine from other reliable sources.

So far, 1,367,032 Iranians have been infected with COVID-19 in the country. More than 57,290 people have died, while 1,158,475 have recovered.