TEHRAN, April 5 (Xinhua) -- The first consignment of vaccines allocated to Iran under the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program has arrived in the country's capital, the country's Food and Drug Administration said on Monday.
The shipment, including over 700,000 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, was shipped to Iran on Sunday night, Tasnim news agency reported, quoting Kianoush Jahanpour, the administration's spokesperson.
Iran's quota under the COVAX program amounts to 16.8 million doses, Jahanpour said.
So far, Iran has received 520,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, and plans to produce domestic vaccines in the next months.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently blamed Washington's sanctions for "hindering the availability of COVID-19 vaccines" for Iranians.
Rouhani said that his administration has allowed the private sector to import COVID-19 vaccines, using the subsidized foreign currency and under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education.
Iran has registered nearly 2 million cases with more than 63,000 deaths as the fourth wave of COVID-19 has started to hit the country.
