Hours after Russia announced that its military forces in Syria had started to receive the vaccine against the coronavirus, Damascus was pleased that Iran announced the success of the first trials of its vaccine.
The official Syrian News Agency (SANA) quoted an Iranian official as saying that the results of first-phase trials of the Iranian Covid-19 vaccine were positive for all volunteers.
Talks between Damascus and Moscow have failed to yield tangible results regarding the supply of the Russian vaccine. Syrian Minister of Health, Hassan Al-Ghobash, revealed to the People’s Assembly last week that the government had held discussions with Moscow some two months ago to import the vaccine, but spoke of “conditions that do not suit the Syrian government.”
“We will not accept that this vaccine comes at the expense of other matters related to the Syrian citizens and sovereignty,” he stated.
It is not clear whether Damascus is seeking to obtain the Iranian vaccine after the failure of its negotiations with Russia.
The Iranian official’s statement, quoted by SANA, came during a press conference in Tehran, during which he said that the Iranian vaccine “responds well to all tests.”
He added that three million doses of the vaccine would be produced by the end of the Iranian year, which falls on March 20.
Earlier this week, the Syrian Ministry of Health announced that it would work exceptionally within the People’s Assembly to amend the legislation pertaining to the import of vaccines, because the Syrian law prohibits the use of vaccines that have not been tested for at least three years.
