Iran starts human trials of its third domestic COVID vaccine

The latest vaccine comes as Iran has imported 1.2 million jabs to inoculate its 80 million population.

Tehran, Iran – Iran has started human trials of Fakhravac, the third domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine, named after nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated in late November near Tehran in an attack Tehran blamed on its regional foe Israel. Authorities at the time had said a team under Fakhrizadeh was working on a vaccine against the coronavirus, which has killed 61,000 people since it broke out in the country in February 2020. Fakhravac, previously referred to as the “Martyr Fakhrizadeh” vaccine, was unveiled during a ceremony broadcast live on state television. Defence Minister Amir Hatami, Health Minister Saeed Namaki, and Fakhrizadeh’s family attended the event in Tehran.