Rotavirus can cause severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Children who get rotavirus disease can become dehydrated and may need to be hospitalized.

Babies can get three doses of vaccine at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th months of life. The vaccine is administered by putting drops in the child’s mouth, IRNA quoted Mohsen Zahraei, the head of the preventable diseases department of the Ministry of Health, as saying.

The pneumococcal vaccine helps protect against some types of bacterial infections that can cause serious illnesses like meningitis (an infection in the brain and spinal cord) sepsis (a life-threatening reaction to an infection) pneumonia (an infection in the lungs).

Zahraei further noted that pneumococcal vaccine can be injected when babies are 2, 4, and 12 months old.

“We hope to be able to develop these two vaccines soon. Once the vaccines pass the quality control trials, and obtain the Food and Drug Organization approval, we will be able to use the domestic products in the national vaccination program,” Zahraei said.

“Since the development of a vaccine is a complex process and takes a lot of time, the vaccines are imported now.

Annual vaccination worldwide prevents the death of two and a half million children, which shows the very high effectiveness of vaccines,” he added.

Measles and rubella eliminated in Iran

In April 2023, the World Health Organization confirmed that measles and rubella have been eradicated in Iran, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said.

This success was achieved for the country in a situation where many European countries have not yet received approval from the World Health Organization regarding the eradication of measles and rubella, but the Islamic Republic of Iran has succeeded in eradicating these two diseases, he added, ISNA reported.

Measles is potentially a deadly disease. Severe complications include pneumonia, diarrhea, blindness, and encephalitis (brain swelling).

Most people who get rubella usually have a mild illness, with symptoms that can include a low-grade fever, sore throat, and a rash that starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.

On December 18, 2022, UNICEF donated 600,000 doses of the measles vaccine to Iran.

In May 2022, Iran announced that the number of confirmed measles cases in the past six months had exceeded 100 cases, despite the fact that the country had eliminated the virus prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sudden rise in the number of refugee arrivals from Afghanistan to Iran as of August 2021 and the delay in providing both Afghan and Iranian children with the necessary routine vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, were some of the potential causes of increased measles cases in Iran.

In response, the Ministry of Health rolled out a measles vaccination campaign, vaccinating all refugees in the country aged 9 months to 30 years old, and called on the public to ensure that the routine vaccination of children is completed as per the national schedule as soon as possible, including children who had missed vaccinations because of the pandemic.

The measles vaccination program in Iran started in 1984 when 34 percent of the population was vaccinated in the first year and 90 to 95 percent of the population after 6 years. Also in 2003, 33 million people were vaccinated with a national program to eradicate measles in the country.

Concerns about the spread of measles in the country are growing as the Afghan population grows.

Iran’s Primary Health Care (PHC) system is known as a role model in the Health Sector which could be adopted by other countries, both in terms of expanded networking and outreach as well as the successful linkage between the Health Sector and Medical Education institutes, such as Medical Universities, according to UNICEF.

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Currently, two or three centers are working on the development of their own vaccines, deputy health minister Younes Panahi said on Monday.

“But this does not mean that a new vaccine will come and we will replace the existing vaccines,” ISNA quoted Panahi as saying.

The Covid-19 virus has mutated in various forms in the world and one of the most serious and dangerous strains is the XBB strain, he added.

“In Iran, studies are currently being conducted on new mutations, but there is no new vaccine that is specific for it. So, we and other countries use the same existing vaccines.”

For instance, the U.S. has a high mortality rate even with mRNA vaccines, and France and Japan also have high mortality rates.

“But in our country, due to observing social distancing rules and wearing masks, we can overcome the new strains with the vaccines that we currently have in sufficient quantity,” he explained.

Panahi went on to say that there is no new vaccine specific to Omicron, neither in the world nor in Iran, but the world is intensively studying to update their vaccines for new mutations.

On January 1, deputy health minister Hossein Farshidi said three new strains of BQ1, XBB, and BA2, have been diagnosed recently in patients, warning that the new wave of Covid began.

Fast-developing Covid-19 variants are spreading over Europe, and severely infected France and Germany, he noted.

Emphasizing that the transmission power of XBB is five times higher than Delta, Farshidi insisted that borders should be monitored quickly and suspicious patients should be identified.

Within the next one to two months, the new wave of the pandemic will reach its peak, he further lamented, ISNA reported.

The rate of hospitalization of the new strains is the same as the Omicron, but the higher the number of patients, the higher the percentage of hospitalizations, he also said.

He further emphasized that people should be injected with booster doses.

Medical researchers announced the risk of an Omicron variant emerging in the world that is resistant to all existing therapeutic antibodies, and the findings indicate that new treatments must be identified to deal with this variant.

According to new research at a German institute, BQ1.1, is resistant to all approved antibody treatments.

Omicron escapes neutralizing antibodies and causes symptomatic disease even in vaccinated or convalescent individuals due to mutations in the spike protein. This is known as an immune escape and is dangerous for high-risk populations, including the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

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The plan was started on December 31, 2022, ISNA quoted Mohsen Zahraei, the head of the preventable diseases department of the Ministry of Health, as saying.

According to the previous announcement, the program was started in 27 universities of medical sciences in the country, and fortunately, the work has progressed well and has been welcomed by the target community, he added.

According to the latest statistics, some 426,000 people under the age of 15 referred to get the vaccines, 92 percent of whom were non-Iranian nationals, Zahraei noted.

By referring to health centers and bases, they receive the oral vaccines of polio, double measles, and rubella, he said.

On December 23, 2022, a national specialized workshop for ‘risk communication and social participation’ was held in order to empower health workers in the supplementary vaccination campaign for the refugee population with the participation of UNICEF.

Considering the Risk Communication and Social Participation Program (RCCE) is one of the most important health promotion programs the program was a combination of information campaigns, health promotion, social mobilization, attracting people participation and other organizations, and establishing effective communication.

In May 2022, it was announced that all foreign immigrants and refugees under the age of five would be vaccinated against polio and measles. Children under the age of five and foreign immigrants will be inoculated through door-to-door visits in high-risk areas across the country.

The measles vaccination program in Iran started in 1984 when 34 percent of the population was vaccinated in the first year and 90 to 95 percent of the population after 6 years. Also in 2003, 33 million people were vaccinated with a national program to eradicate measles in the country.

Concerns about the spread of measles in the country are growing as the Afghan population grows.

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that largely affects children under 5 years of age. The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the fecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.

Measles is caused by a virus in the paramyxovirus family and it is normally passed through direct contact and through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body. Measles is a human disease and is not known to occur in animals.

More than 140,000 people died from measles in 2018 – mostly children under the age of 5 years, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.

The inhumane sanctions have had devastating effects on the health system and the question is who is responsible for the deaths of some innocent patients due to the lack of essential medicines, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi has said.

He made the remarks at the 69th session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, which was held in Egypt on October 10-13, 2022.

Einollahi said in July 2022 that despite the sanctions that have existed since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution to prevent the country from progressing, Iran has the strongest health system in the region.

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Speaking in the meeting of the National Task Force for Combating Coronavirus on Saturday, Ebrahim Raisi said that concerning the humanitarian concerns, the Islamic Republic started the vaccination of the foreign nationals in the country entirely.

“Some European countries have just started thinking about this,” Raisi added.

Due to the increase in the production of domestic vaccines and the supply of imported ones, the necessary predictions should be made so that even with the injection of the third dose, there was no shortage in this field in the country, he said.

He also stressed, “The only way to stay safe from the new wave of COVID-19 is to follow health protocols and serious monitoring”.

Raisi thanked all those involved in the fight against coronavirus, especially the health and medical staff, saying, “Reduction in the number of coronavirus cases and the stabilization of the current situation requires following health protocols with sensitivity”.

Emphasizing that there should be no shortage of vaccines in the country, the President said, “Considering the increase in domestic vaccine production and the supply of imported vaccines, the necessary predictions should be made so that even with the injection of the third dose, there is no shortage in this field in the country”.

Raisi reiterated the importance of traffic control at land, air and sea borders and the seriousness of quarantine for suspicious cases.

The President Raisi also called for close and intelligent monitoring of the reopening of schools, offices and businesses in order to comply with health protocols to protect the lives of the people.

Referring to the shortage of specialist doctors in the cities, the President said, “In this regard, a working group of proponents and opponents of increasing the recruitment of doctors has been appointed, to examine the existing problems in this field, including the unfair distribution of doctors in the country”.

Expressing the dangers of air pollution, especially in big cities, the President said, “Relevant agencies should seriously address the problem of air pollution and protect the lives of the people”.

Raisi emphasized on avoiding vaccination of children under 12 years old and stated, “This should not be done until accurate research and scientific work has been done in this field and it has been proven, and the government will refrain from anything that has not been tested and approved before”.

Emphasizing the need to continue vaccinating foreign nationals, the President said, “Some European countries have just started to think about this, while the Islamic Republic of Iran has started vaccinating all foreign nationals from the very beginning due to humanitarian issues and will continue to do so seriously”.

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Providing the vaccine to refugees living in Iran is a big deal for the government, he emphasized.

With the expansion of vaccination coverage, coronavirus mortality has declined to less than 100 in Iran and most provinces are out of the red (high-risk areas), he added, IRNA reported.

The vaccination program and health measures in Iran should be more complete and the situation should be better, he suggested.

The WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Iran, is studying the effectiveness of Sinopharm, AstraZeneca, and COVIRAN vaccines.

About one million people in Iran have received the third dose of the vaccine and we are trying to help the Pastu Covac and COVIRAN to complete documentation and receive the World Health Organization quality certificate so that it can be exported to low-income countries in the region, like Africa, he explained.

Iran is one of the leading countries in West Asia for public vaccination coverage, as the country has registered a record 1.5 million doses of vaccines injected in one day, he concluded.

Iran has always been a major supporter of refugees and displaced persons, and the provision of services to asylum seekers for four consecutive decades is a testament to this.

Without any discrimination, Iran has provided various services to a large number of refugees and foreign immigrants in the fields of education, health, treatment, livelihood, vocational training, and employment, with minimal assistance from the international community.

World’s fourth-largest refugee community

Iran is hosting the world’s fourth-largest refugee community. The country has generously hosted approximately 1 million refugees for the past 30 years. The majority, which mainly came from Afghanistan and Iraq, live in urban areas. Approximately 31,000 of the most vulnerable refugees live in 20 settlements located throughout the country.

Based on the latest statistics, over 3 million Afghans are living in Iran – some 780,000 Afghan refugees, over 2 million undocumented Afghans, and another 600,000 Afghan passport-holders with Iranian visas.

However, in light of the pandemic, all refugees, even those undocumented, benefited from access to free primary health services and free COVID-19 related testing, treatment, and hospitalization, just like Iranian nationals.

The same happened for the vaccination when the country has generously considered refugees over the age of 75 for vaccination against coronavirus.

In order to support the refugees living in the country, the seventh phase of the health insurance plan will cover 120,000 vulnerable refugees through a memorandum of understanding signed between the Health Insurance Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In Iran, UNHCR is seeking $16.2 million for its COVID-19 emergency, while requires an additional $98.7 million to support Iran in maintaining and sustaining its commendable inclusive refugee policies, under the umbrella of the Solutions Strategy for Afghan Refugees (SSAR).

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In case a traveler has not injected both doses of the vaccine, he or she will be tested and quarantined, if necessary, IRNA quoted Gooya as saying on Saturday.

“The cold season is approaching. Considering that schools and universities are reopened, infection cases will increase as the sixth wave of the disease is near, while public vaccination has not been completed,” he explained.

The Ministry of Health has announced that the Delta virus has been found everywhere in the country, and given that the virus is very highly contagious, it can increase the rate of hospitalizations and transmission.

Currently, 22 cities are in the high-risk red zones (the highest category on Iran’s coronavirus risk scale), and 128 cities are in the orange zones, 215 cities are in the yellow zones, and 83 cities are in the blue zones.

That is while, deputy tourism minister Ali-Asghar Shalbafian said on Sunday that the country has reopened its borders to foreign tourists as of October 23 based on the new conditions prevailing in the country after crossing the fifth wave of the pandemic, increasing vaccinations, and at the request of the tourism ministry.

Over 750,000 passengers screened for coronavirus at borders

A total of 750,164 passengers have so far been screened for coronavirus by thermal tests at the country’s official borders since March 10, Mehdi Valipour, head of Relief and Rescue Organization affiliated to the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), said on Monday.

During the aforesaid period, IRCS forces have conducted 91,058 PCR tests and 117,121 rapid tests, he added, IRNA reported.

He went on to say that some 213 individuals, who tested positive, have so far been temporarily quarantined, under a plan to rapidly identify suspected cases of coronavirus and prevent the spread of the disease.

A total of 471 members of the IRCS cooperate for carrying out the plan in 16 provinces across the country, Valipour concluded.

With the cooperation of ministries of health and transport, a plan is being implemented with the goal of rapidly identifying and testing incoming passengers and keeping them in quarantine facilities, if necessary.

Twenty-eight border checkpoints have been selected, including 18 land borders, nine air borders, and three sea borders, all incoming passengers will be tested and referred to the quarantine facilities in case of necessity.

Around 8,000 individuals enter the country via borders on a daily basis.

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Fortunately, over 80 million doses of vaccine have been imported and more than 54 million doses have been injected, which is planned to inoculate 70 percent of the population in the near future, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said.

He further expressed hope that Iran can be among the countries with the highest vaccination rate in the world, adding, fortunately, we are already ahead of several countries.

Vaccination alone does not control the disease but helps reduce the incidence and mortality of COVID-19, so that, health protocols should continue to be followed after vaccination.

Einollahi went on to say that the medical universities are tasked with inoculation of people with disabilities or those who cannot refer to vaccination centers, and suggested a door-to-door plan ensure the whole population receives the vaccine.

Vaccination up, mortality down

In July, delta variant mortality peaked and recorded over 700 daily deaths, but the increase of vaccination pace reduced the toll.

Today, more than one million doses of vaccine are injected daily in the country, and many age groups of the elderly, rare diseases patients, teachers, university professors, health professionals, veterans, etc. have been vaccinated and now the process of vaccinating students is underway.

Vaccination reduced the mortality rate among the elderly aging 60 or above by 30 percent, and the trend is declining.

Studies show that people who are not vaccinated are 4.5 times more likely to develop COVID-19 than those who are fully vaccinated, and 10 and 11 times more likely to be hospitalized and die, respectively.

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So far, 53 million people have been inoculated against the pandemic, which will reach up to 60 million over the next two weeks, he added.

Einollahi went on to say that during the past week, 8.2 million doses of vaccine were injected in the country, which is unprecedented and unique in the world, referring to the speed of vaccination.

“We will soon celebrate the victory of vaccination,” but vaccination does not mean that there is no need to follow health protocols, he concluded, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

Homegrown vaccines

Made by researchers at the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam, COVIRAN BAREKAT was unveiled on December 29, 2020, and received the license for public use on June 14.

It proved effective against Indian strain, according to Hojjat Niki-Maleki, head of the information center of Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam.

Eleven countries from Asia and South America, and a European country have asked for importing COVIRAN vaccine, Hassan Jalili, the vaccine’s production manager, said in June.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, 14 vaccines are being domestically developed in the country which are in different study phases.

Pastu Covac, developed jointly by the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Cuba’s Finlay Vaccine Institute, is another homegrown vaccine, which has received the emergency use license, after COVIRAN.

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The vaccination procedure will gain momentum over the next few weeks, he wrote on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

In a televised interview on Tuesday, the health minister said the whole population vaccination is hoped to be completed by mid-February next year, IRNA reported.

Meanwhile, deputy health Minister Alireza Raisi said on Tuesday that five million doses of coronavirus vaccines will be imported on a weekly basis as of the next week.

Raisi said in august that negotiation was underway with one or two European countries to purchase Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines.

Referring to good efforts made to import vaccines, he said: “By the end of September, we will definitely import about 30 million doses of vaccine. With another memorandum of understanding from October, we will receive another 30 million doses.

So, if we receive 60 million doses of vaccine, we can vaccinate the age group of 30 by the beginning of November.”

As per contracts signed with international manufacturers, some 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine should be imported by the end of 2021, Nasser Riyahi, the head of the Association of Medicine Importers, has said.

On August 25, World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iran Jaffar Hussain announced that three million doses of vaccine will be delivered soon to the country under the COVAX facility.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society head Karim Hemmati said on August 26 that a total of 20.390 million doses of the vaccine have been imported so far.

Meanwhile, President Ebrahim Raisi has confirmed that 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be imported.

In his August 11 televised address, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested that containing the rapidly increasing wave of the Coronavirus is the first and foremost issue of the country.

Placing great emphasis on the fulfillment of duties and the implementation of decisions regarding the Coronavirus pandemic, Ayatollah Khamenei said “the vaccine, whether imported or domestically produced, must be provided with double effort and in any way possible made available to all people.”

Domestically-made vaccines

Mass vaccination against COVID-19 started on Iranian citizens with the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine on February 9.

While Iran continues efforts to mass-produce local candidates, over 21 million doses of foreign vaccines have already been imported and others are expected soon.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, 14 vaccines are being domestically developed in the country which are in different study phases.

COVIRAN BAREKAT, the first Iranian-made coronavirus vaccine, is in the process to be registered by the World Health Organization, Asghar Abdoli, an expert in the vaccine production project, has stated.

The whole process of the vaccine development and clinical trials must be presented in detail from the beginning, which we are doing, he said, adding, “in addition to presenting the documents, we must also defend our scientific achievements in person.”

“Our first article on the pre-clinical phase of COVIRAN vaccine will be published soon.”

Vaccine development technical knowledge is native to the country. In other words, the whole process is carried out in Iran, he noted.

The Iranian-Australian coronavirus vaccine Spikogen started the third phase of the clinical trial with the participation of 17,000 people on August 7.

The first phase of the study was performed on volunteer Australians and received the necessary approval, the second phase was administrated to 400 Iranians, which has had no serious side effects, Payam Tabarsi, researcher of the vaccine study project said.

The second human testing showed good results, with 70 percent antibody, he stated, adding, the delta variant is now very strong and many vaccines have not been effective against the mutant.

Iran is also producing vaccines jointly with two countries of Cuba and Russia, which may also be released by September.

The Iranian-made Sputnik vaccine is undergoing the final testing phase, and Pastu Covac received the emergency use license.

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People who have received AstraZeneca and Sputnik vaccines can donate blood 28 days after vaccination, he said, adding, but those who have been injected with Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Barekat vaccines can refer to blood donation centers as soon as their symptoms such as pain, fever, and faintness are removed.

Over the first three months of the current [Iranian calendar] year (started March 21), some 510,000 people donated blood across the country, Haji-Beigi said in July.

Blood donation over the aforementioned period has increased by 15 percent compared to the same period last year, he added.

“During this period, the provinces of Qazvin, Khuzestan, and Khorasan Razavi had the highest growth rate of blood donation in the country.”

He went on to say that the index of regular blood donation in the country was estimated at 57 percent and the highest rate was related to the provinces of Semnan, Yazd, and Bushehr.

Over 2.1m Iranians donate blood per year

Blood donation in Iran has long been done voluntarily as over 2.1 million Iranians donate blood annually, Haji-Beigi said on June 14.

There are currently 178 blood donation centers in the country, with Fars, Khorasan Razavi, Khuzestan, Tehran, and Mazandaran provinces having the largest number of blood donation centers, he stated.

While blood donation in 70 countries still depends on replacement or paid donors, Iran is the first country in the region that has enjoyed voluntary blood donation by 100 percent since 2007.

More than 85 percent of all donated blood worldwide is used to produce blood products, while the rate is 65 percent in Eastern Mediterranean countries. Iran ranks among the highest-income countries in terms of converting more than 97 percent of the blood donated by people to plasma-derived medicinal products (PDMP).

Only 55 of 171 countries produce PDMP through the fractionation of plasma collected in the reporting country. A total of 90 countries reported that all PDMP are imported, 16 countries reported that no PDMP was used during the reporting period, and 10 countries did not respond to the question, according to WHO.

Iran currently has the highest blood donation rate in the Eastern Mediterranean region so that out of 9.9 million blood donation units in this region, more than two million belongs to Iran.

Also, the index of blood donation is 25 per 1,000 populations, while in the member states of the Eastern Mediterranean region, this number is 14.9 per 1000.

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