TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iranians Deserve Free COVID-19 Vaccines. Chairman of Iran-Switzerland Joint Chamber of Commerce Sharif Nezam-Mafi believes if the private sector is to import COVID-19 vaccines, they should hand over the vaccines to the Health Ministry for its distribution because it will reveal the humanitarian and nationalist feelings.
Speaking to ILNA, Nezam-Mafi expressed his views on import of COVID-19 vaccines by the private sector and criticisms against this decision, and said any company which is involved in importing face masks should also be allowed to import vaccines.
He added that the country has passed a critical point and Iranian families are losing their dear ones and in this condition, officials should issue licenses for import of vaccines. On paying for vaccination, he said vaccination should be for free and the vaccination should be available for the entire nation like what is common in other countries and the private sector should also ignore its profits regarding the import of COVID-19 vaccine.
He added that he believes if the private sector imports the vaccine, it should not distribute it by itself and the health ministry should be in charge of its distribution, and everyone should show his humanitarian and chauvinism nature. Sharif-Mafi reiterated that Iranians are entitled to be vaccinated for free.
Touching upon the probable removal of the sanctions against Iran and its impact on the national economy, he said according to reports from Vienna, sanctions have reached a serious stage and its removal can first ease the banking relations and ultimately unfreeze Iran’s blocked assets.
He noted that the blocked assets can help the cycle of industry and economy of the country, and removal of the sanctions, if it is true, can be a very good opening in the national economy and it can help the national GDP to become double-digit.
Sharif-Mafi reiterated that this needs verification because international companies which work with Iran are very sensitive about the U.S. fines for deal with Iran. He admitted that any investor who wants to have trade with Iran fears about the 2024 U.S. Presidential election because if a Republican takes office, the maximum pressure may return and for this reason international companies do not rush to trade with Iran until they become sure about the fate of the sanctions.
