The head of the Office of Biological Products at Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, Ali Vasheghani, said the World Health Organization has recommended Iran to put the production of two new vaccines – Pneumococcal vaccine and Rotavirus vaccine – on agenda.

Pneumococcal vaccines are vaccines against the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae. Their use can prevent some cases of pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis.

Meanwhile, Rotavirus vaccine is used to protect against rotavirus infections, which are the leading cause of severe diarrhea among young children. The vaccines, according to reports, prevent 15–34% of severe diarrhea in the developing world and 37–96% of severe diarrhea in the developed world.

Vasheghani maintained that $100 million fund has been set up for the production of the two vaccines, noting however that the process of vaccine production is time-consuming.