Iran buys 30 million vaccine doses as COVID-19 cases surge

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Iran on Saturday secured the purchase of 30 million coronavirus vaccines, state media has reported, as the country grapples with skyrocketing infections across the country.

President Ebrahim Raisi said that Iran has “secured buying 30 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines,” saying that it is half of what is needed to get the current wave of COVID-19 infections under control.

Iran has been a hotspot for the coronavirus in the Middle East since the start of the pandemic and is currently being hit with the fifth wave of infections as the new Delta virus spreads around the globe.

Iran has officially recorded over 4 million cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 96,000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), making it the hardest-hit country in the Middle East. The numbers of dead and infected are likely significantly higher than the reported figures.

Coronavirus is the “first and foremost” issue in the country, Raisi said in a speech yesterday.

Western-made vaccines are scarce, and a black market has emerged – with doses up for sale for more than $1,000.

Tehran has banned the use of vaccine doses produced in the US and UK, but says the import of other Western-made vaccines is permitted.  Iran has produced its own vaccine but has not released data on the product. 

Authorities have ordered a one-week lockdown, starting Sunday, and a ban on road travel to contain the outbreak, Reuters has reported.

Images and videos circulating on social media show hospitals overcrowded with patients, and a shortage of oxygen cylinders and beds as dozens of patients lay on corridor floors awaiting treatment.

Tehran’s largest cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, witnessed its busiest day in its 51-year history on Friday, when a total of 216 people who died of the virus were laid to rest, Fars News reported.

On Saturday, state media reported Iran had recorded 29,700 new cases, 4,154 were hospitalizations and 466 deaths in the previous 24 hours.