TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Iran is cooperating with Cuba in producing a COVID-19 vaccine, official IRNA news agency quoted an Iranian Health Ministry official as saying on Friday.
Iran will purchase vaccines from a foreign country and participates in the World Health Organization's COVAX program for receiving its vaccine quota, said Kianoush Jahanpour, spokesman of the Iran Food and Drug Administration (IFDA).
Besides, the Pasteur Institute of Iran is going to produce COVID-19 vaccine in joint cooperation with a Cuban company, said Jahanpour.
He added that tests and trials of Tehran-Havana vaccine are underway in Cuba.
The human trials of a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Iranian researchers started with the injection on 56 volunteers in Iran on Dec. 29, 2020.
The next trial phase of the vaccine would be 28 days later "if everything goes well," Deputy of Iran's Health Minister Alireza Raisi said.
If the vaccine goes through all stages, it would be reliable, he said, adding that Iran can mass produce its own vaccine in the spring. Enditem
