Iran approves Russian COVID-19 vaccine

As proclaimed by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last week that Russia's primary coronavirus vaccine candidate has become the first approved foreign vaccine in Iran sparked a fierce debate.

Zarif was in Moscow as part of a diplomatic trip across the Caucasus when he stated Sputnik V's approval for pressure use and said Iran aims to start co-producing the vaccine in the near future.

The first lot of 10,000 doses is expected to arrive in Iran on Thursday, while up to 400,000 doses are suspected in several installments before the current Iranian calendar year ends in late March.

Healthcare workers, also highly endangered groups, are first in line to receive the limited doses. However, public and health leaders have been locked in a debate over the vaccine.

The first major news of distrust aimed at Sputnik V came from one of Iran's top infectious disorder experts, Minoo Mohraz, who is a leading figure in the country's efforts to build local vaccines.

She said she will not use the vaccine because it has yet to be approved by the World Health Organization or the European Medicines Agency, adding that Iran was importing it due to the "Iranian people's bad fortune."

Her criticism earned sharp criticism from Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesman of Iran's Food and Drug Administration, who said Mohraz had no "duty or status" to weigh in on foreign COVID-19 vaccines.

Iran's health minister Saeed Namaki said any claims the country is importing unsafe vaccines amount to "hatred" and "national treason," adding that Sputnik V was bashed for "economic interests."

"To the consternation of many who can't bear to see it, we will give the vaccines to our own species, so everyone will know we hold people's health above our own," Namaki said on TV.