close button
Switch to Iranwire Light?
It looks like you’re having trouble loading the content on this page. Switch to Iranwire Light instead.
Special Features

Where is Iran’s Flu Vaccine?

September 15, 2020
Pouyan Khoshhal
5 min read
Officials promised that the flu vaccine would be introduced in late summer
Officials promised that the flu vaccine would be introduced in late summer
“The flu vaccination is in no way recommended,” said Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of the health ministry’s public relations office
“The flu vaccination is in no way recommended,” said Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of the health ministry’s public relations office

Recent talk about how to manage Iran’s coronavirus crisis has revolved around flu vaccines. Health officials around the world have expressed concern that, with the arrival of the cold season, flu infections will make the management of Covid-19 even harder because the symptoms are similar, making diagnosis more difficult and also because flu has such an impact on the immune system. Iranian health officials had promised to start distributing a flu vaccine in the summer, but this did not happen.

Iran does not produce its own flu vaccine and because of this, it has been importing two million doses of flu vaccine annually. This year, however, Iranian officials announced they would import between 10 and 12 million doses because of the likelihood that a flu contagion would accompany the coronavirus epidemic. 

Now senior health officials and Iran’s Red Crescent Society say the distribution of the flu vaccine will start during the third week of September or in the early days of fall. “The whole world demands a flu vaccine, but the worldwide production of this vaccine is limited,” said Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeesi.

The suspicion that the flu vaccine has yet to reach Iran was supported by statements made by various officials, most of whom have been trying to downplay the importance, necessity and urgency of Iranians having the flu vaccination. On September 14, speaking for Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, Kianoush Jahanpour, the head of the health ministry’s public relations office, said, “the universal flu vaccination is in no way recommended.”

Karim Hemmati, president of the Red Crescent Society of Iran, said that imported doses of the vaccine can be increased to 16 million, before adding: “We expect those who are not suffering from specific problems or from underlying diseases not to rush to buy and use the vaccine.” And Mohsen Zahraei, head of the health ministry’s Vaccination Department, said, “Of course, anybody without an underlying disease can get vaccinated as well but, if we do this, high-risk groups will be deprived of the vaccine.”

On Monday, September 14, however, Amir Baghaei, the drug administrator at Alborz University of Medical Sciences, laid out the government’s vaccination plan in more detail.

He stated that flu vaccination is necessary for vulnerable and specific groups, including children under six years old, people with underlying health conditions or with weak immune systems, people over 65, health workers and medical staff and pregnant women. “The vaccine will be offered in three phases,” he said. “In the first phase, the vaccine will be distributed, for free, to prisoners, pregnant women and health workers. In the second phase, the vaccine will be sold for 40,000 tomans [US$10] per dose to the elderly and those who have an electronic medical file...In the third phase, the pharmacies will sell the vaccine to ordinary people.”

It is clear that it will take a considerable amount of time for “ordinary people” to gain access to the vaccine, and this makes it more likely that a flu vaccine will become available on the black market.

And how much will it cost when it is available for sale? “We will try to keep the price at the same 40,000 tomans,” said Baghaei. “People will be able to buy the genuine vaccine from pharmacies and health centers instead of buying it on the internet for between 300,000 and 400,000 tomans [between $73 and $100].”

On September 14, Karim Hemmati, president of the Red Crescent Society, said that Iran had purchased the flu vaccine from Germany, France and Canada for between 5.9 and 7 euros per dose.

This all took place even before the cold season arrived, and at a time when the number of coronavirus cases in a big city like Tehran had doubled in a week.

 

Provinces Round-up

“During recent holidays, a small number of people ignored [health guidelines] and started traveling,” said Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeesi. “It has been proven that traveling leads to a fresh surge in the epidemic and, unfortunately, this is what is happening. In the last week we witnessed a greater surge compared to the week before. For example, if we compare these two weeks, the number of patients in Tehran increased from 900 to 1,800. In other words, the number of patients and hospitalizations doubled.”

Following an increase in the number of infections in Khuzestan province, Dr. Farhad Abolnejadian, president of Ahvaz Jondishapur University of Medical Sciences, warned the people of Khuzestan, “if we have a second peak, the number fatalities will be heavier than during the first peak. The ICU beds in Razi Hospital in Ahvaz have been filled to capacity and a number of our fellow Khuzestanis are fighting for their lives.”

In the last 24 hours nine people died from Covid-19 in the province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, reported Dr. Parviz Yazdanpanah, president of the province’s University of Medical Sciences. “The alarm has sounded," he warned. “Every day the number of coronavirus victims is increasing and, as of now, a total of 110 people have lost their lives to coronavirus in the province.”

Dr. Mohammad Reza Ghadir, president of Qom University of Medicine, had a similar message. “Yesterday we witnessed a big surge in coronavirus in Qom,” he reported. “ In just one day 120 of our fellow citizens were hospitalized; this figure is unbelievable and alarming.” He added: “We need help and have met with the responsible officials about it but, as of now, no help has arrived.”

The latest official figures announced by the health ministry show that, compared to the previous last week, the number of infections and fatalities has surged.

In her daily briefing for September 15, health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the last 24 hours.

 

Dr. Lari also reported that 13 provinces were currently in a red state of alert and 15 provinces were in an orange state.

 

This is part of IranWire's coronavirus chronology. Read the full chronology

comments

Images

Nomads Struggle to Survive Drought

September 15, 2020
Photo Blog
Nomads Struggle to Survive Drought