Some 3,300 foreign nationals have been immunized against measles, mumps, and rubella in Iran’s eastern province of South Khorasan, close to the border with Afghanistan, according to a provincial health official.
Mohammad Reza Jam’avar, Director of the Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Group at Birjand University of Medical Sciences, said on Tuesday that the vaccines have been administered since late September last year.
He said since measles is endemic across Afghanistan, Afghan nationals residing in South Khorasan province have already been vaccinated at border points prior to entry into Iran.
The official also said those who received the vaccines fall within the age group of between nine months and 30 years.
Jam’avar also said that some 2, 930 doses of polio vaccines have been given to Afghan children during the same period.
Iran’s eastern and northeastern provinces bordering Afghanistan host a very large number of Afghan refugees.
Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, thousands of Afghans have flocked to Iranian borders.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly announced, despite hardships caused by US sanctions, it will spare no effort to vaccinate Afghan refugees.
In December 2021, up to 125,000 Afghan migrants and host community members in Iran received two doses for a total of 250,000 doses of COVID vaccine in eastern provinces of the country as part of the partnership with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).
