TEHRAN (Iran News) – One of several Iranian vaccines under development, COV-Pars started its clinical test in an event in presence of Iranian Minister of Agricultural Jihad Kazem Khavazi, Chancellor of Iran University of Medical Sciences Jalil Kouhpayezadeh, and a group of officials and researchers in Rasoul Akram Hospital in Tehran.

COV-Pars vaccine will be administered to 13 volunteers in the first stage, and then 120 volunteers will receive the vaccine in four groups of 30.

The vaccine is the first injected-inhaled recombinant corona protein which was unveiled last month in Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute in Karaj, Iran.

The institute started working on the vaccine in February last year and after the initial stages, it passed the animal test phase in April 2020.

COV-Pars is developed under the leadership of Iran’s Health Ministry and Food and Drug Organization expertise.

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first coronavirus vaccine made by Iranian researchers of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, was unveiled and injected into three volunteers during a ceremony on December 29, 2020.

Immunogenicity tests have been performed on about 35 volunteers so far, and the results show that the vaccine has higher immunogenicity than we expected, Mohammad Reza Salehi, clinical conductor of the Iranian coronavirus vaccine announced.

“Test results show that about 90 percent of people who received the second dose of the vaccine showed evidence of immunity after two weeks,” he added.

Iran started mass vaccination with Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, with the priority given to medical staff, the elderly, and people with underlying diseases; and is also going to be co-produced by the two countries.

Importing vaccine from COVAX, a global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, is also on the agenda.

On January 27, Health Minister Saeed Namaki said that there are four different ways to supply the coronavirus vaccine, including direct purchase from a foreign country, procurement from the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, a joint production with a Cuban company as well as domestic production of the vaccine.