TEHRAN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran will start its vaccination program against COVID-19 for the general population in May using the domestic vaccine COV-Iran Barekat, an official was quoted as saying on Tuesday by news agency Tasnim.
"We have a big potential in the mass production of this vaccine, and after the next two to two and a half months, we will not have any concerns about stocks of COVID-19 vaccines," said Mohammad Mokhber, head of the Headquarters for Executing the Order of the Imam Khomeini (HEOIK).
Speaking during the unveiling of a mobile hospital in Tehran, the official said the vaccination program is expected to be launched in May.
Mokhber noted that the mobile hospital being inaugurated is the biggest of its kind in Iran, and explained the necessity for its creation pointing to the frequency of earthquakes and floods in remote areas of the country.
The hospital has 99 beds, two operating rooms, a delivery room, an ultrasound machine, a mammogram, an emergency room, a pharmacy and "all the equipment of an advanced hospital," Mokhber said.
Also on Tuesday, spokeswoman for Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education Sima Sadat Lari reported at the daily briefing 8,554 new COVID-19 infections, which raises the country's overall count to 1,706,559 cases.
Between Monday and Tuesday, Sadat Lari said, 81 new deaths related to the coronavirus were registered in Iran, making for a death toll of 60,867 so far.
As of Tuesday, she further noted, 1,456,759 COVID-19 patients have recovered or been released from Iranian hospitals, but 3,811 others are currently in critical condition in intensive care units. Enditem
