An Iranian official says the Islamic Republic has become the fifth country in the world to master the technology that is required to produce pneumonia vaccine.
The announcement was made on Monday by Mostafa Qane'i, the secretary of the Knowledge-Based Health Economics Development Headquarters, which is affiliated with the Iranian Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-based Economy.
"The technology used to produce this vaccine is complicated. It was previously exclusive to four countries and the Islamic Republic of Iran has become the fifth country to master this technology," the official said.
"The production of pneumonia vaccine for children is currently going through its final stages," he added.
Noting that the country has to prepare vaccine doses for as many as 1.5 million newborns every year and that every newborn needs three doses, Ghane'i said domestic production of this vaccine will reduce its imports from other countries and, as such, will greatly contribute to cost reduction in this field.
The country is also in the final stages of producing a childhood diarrhea vaccine and is in the process of producing a cervical cancer vaccine for women, the official stated.
"We are also planning to produce a quadrivalent vaccine for cervical cancer, which will be offered at a lower price compared to its foreign counterpart. A bivalent vaccine for cervical cancer is currently available on the market and the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-based Economy is planning to produce a quadrivalent vaccine in cooperation with knowledge-based companies, which will be as effective as its foreign counterpart," Qane'i said.
"During the coronavirus pandemic, we managed to produce and supply the vaccines that the country needed and we are now in possession of necessary infrastructure and technologies to produce this vaccine," he said.
