Vaccine debate rages in Iran as region pushes forward with inoculation

The planned import and use of the Russian vaccine has proved controversial in the Islamic Republic.

A nurse prepares Russia's "Sputnik-V" vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for inoculation at a clinic in Tver, Russia October 12, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/TATYANA MAKEYEVA/FILE PHOTO)
A nurse prepares Russia's "Sputnik-V" vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for inoculation at a clinic in Tver, Russia October 12, 2020.
(photo credit: REUTERS/TATYANA MAKEYEVA/FILE PHOTO)
The first shipment of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V is expected to arrive in Iran in the coming days, Tehran Times reported Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, head of the country’s Food and Drug Administration, saying. However, while the country has struggled to begin vaccinating its population, news of the Russian vaccine was not accepted with undisputed approbation.
Almost 100 members of Iran’s Medical Council Board sent a letter to President Hassan Rouhani saying that the use of Sputnik V before it receives international approval may be “dangerous,” al-Jazeera reported. The Iranian health minister has said that maligning any state-imported vaccines was tantamount to “national treason.”
 
Iran’s purchase of 4.2 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine reported this week also faced potential hurdles following Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s January statement that Iran would not buy British and US vaccines. Bloomberg reported that the statement released to the Iranian press regarding the expected import made sure to refer to AstraZeneca, a Swedish-British company, as a “Swedish company,” to avoid a potential clash with the supreme leader’s ban.
 
Elsewhere in the region, the Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported this week that discussions are being held to open the country’s vaccination drive to private players, who would be able to import additional doses.
 
Last week, both Lebanon and Egypt launched an online registration platform to allow citizens to sign up for vaccination. Egypt began its rollout on January 24 but progress is expected to be slow. The North African country has experienced a second wave of the pandemic but numbers have tapered off, leading an Egyptian official to estimate that the country is past the wave’s peak, Arab News reported. 
 
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared that some 20% of the Syrian population will be vaccinated in an effort that falls under the umbrella of its COVAX program, which aims to help lower-income countries vaccinate their population. The organization hopes to begin the limited rollout in April.
 
In Jordan, reports this week have indicated that the kingdom is seeking to add the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to the Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccines currently approved for use in the vaccination drive, which was launched last month.
 
To the kingdom’s east, Iraqi Health Minister Hassan al-Tamimi has said that a nationwide curfew may be reimposed if numbers maintain their upward incline, Xinhua News reported. Tamimi said on Monday that Iraq would receive 2.5 million to 3 million vaccine doses at the end of the month. 
 
In Israel, vaccination is now offered to all citizens aged 16 and over, following a decline in recent days in the number of those seeking vaccination. A total of 3.3 million Israelis have been vaccinated to date but the country continues to diagnose thousands of new cases daily.
 
Kuwait has imposed a set of new restrictions following a recent rise in the number of cases. Business working hours have been limited and gatherings banned. These measures are in addition to Wednesday's declaration that entry of foreigners into the country would be forbidden for two weeks, starting February 7. Neighboring Saudi Arabia has announced similar measures in recent days, also resulting from an increase in the number of infections.

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Here are the latest COVID-19 numbers for the Middle East and North Africa as of 12:30 pm Greenwich Mean Time (UTC±0) on Thursday.

Country

Confirmed Cases

Deaths

Recovered

Active Cases

Afghanistan

55,256

2,407

47,995

4,854

Algeria

108,116

2,900

73,940

31,276

Bahrain

104,792

376

99,527

4,889

Cyprus

31,263

203

2,057

29,003

Djibouti

5,936

63

5,848

25

Egypt

167,525

9,460

130,912

27,153

Iran

1,438,286

58,189

1,229,391

150,706

Iraq

624,222

13,091

596,959

14,172

Israel

672,324

4,975

589,617

77,732

Jordan

330,474

4,344

317,218

8,912

Kuwait

167,410

961

159,543

6,906

Lebanon

309,162

3,315

188,824

117,023

Libya

122,013

1,919

102,448

17,646

Mauritania

16,720

424

15,851

445

Morocco

473,047

8,323

451,780

12,944

Oman

135,041

1,532

127,266

6,243

Pakistan

550,540

11,833

505,818

32,889

Palestinian Territories

161,087

1,865

151,082

8,140

Qatar

152,898

249

146,474

6,175

Saudi Arabia

368,945

6,386

360,400

2,159

Somalia

4,814

132

3,720

962

Sudan

27,443

1,830

21,695

3,918

Syria

14,202

933

7,807

5,462

Tunisia

212,679

6,980

167,699

38,000

Turkey

2,501,079

26,354

2,387,384

87,341

United Arab Emirates

316,875

888

293,180

22,807

Yemen

2,122

615

1,427

80

Total

9,074,271

170,547

8,185,862

717,862