In an address to a meeting at the Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Tuesday, Saeed Namaki said he has good news about the coronavirus vaccine being made in Iran.

“We don’t want to make delusional comments and don’t want to say that the vaccine would be available to the public until autumn,” the health minister said.

“Today, we can only say that we are not lagging behind many in the world who claim to have produced the vaccine,” Namaki added.

Describing the production of the vaccine as a result of teamwork, the health minister said Iranian experts should exchange their findings so that Iran would be among the first countries with tangible progress in making COVID-19 vaccine.

Last week, Namaki said a homegrown vaccine for the novel coronavirus has successfully passed the initial tests.

“(It has) passed the initial tests and (we) hope to reach promising stages,” he said.

The minister had also highlighted Iran’s success in synthesizing the medicine for treatment of the coronavirus despite the pressure of cruel sanctions, saying two local pharmaceutical companies are going to supply hospitals across the country with Remdesivir.

Head of the Food and Drug Administration of Iran said on Monday that Iranian-made Remdesivir, an antiviral medication for the treatment of coronavirus patients, would be put on the market within the next few days.