As one of the COVAX Facility's self-financing participant nations, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has received the first batch of 700,800 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The COVAX Facility, is a partnership co-led by Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi-The Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside key delivery partner United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The consignment is the country's first COVAX shipment, with future consignments of the approved allocation of COVID vaccines to be distributed in collaboration with Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education through the UNICEF procurement channel.
The AstraZeneca vaccines for Iran, manufactured by the South Korean SK-Bio Institute, arrived at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport on Monday, April 5, and were received by members of Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education in the presence of WHO and UNICEF technical teams.
Achieving this important milestone aimed at ensuring the global goal of equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the world through COVAX facility is the key priority for WHO and partners.