Iran bans import of UK and US Covid-19 vaccines, saying they're 'completely untrustworthy'

Iran: Covid-19 Coronavirus death toll is 61,230

Iran bans import of UK and US Covid-19 vaccines, saying they're 'completely untrustworthy'

FRANCE 24 English shows that foreign companies will not be allowed to test Covid-19 vaccines on the Iranian people, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday, one day after the country’s supreme leader banned the import of UK- and US-produced jabs and said they were "completely untrustworthy."

Iran recently received the first consignment of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinopharm.

The cargo of 250,000 doses of the vaccine, donated by China, was handed over to the Health Ministry, officials said.

Iran seems to be on the verge of a 4th wave of the pandemic with a spike in new cases in recent weeks in some provinces.

Earlier in February, Iran had imported the Sputnik-V vaccine from Russia, which was administered to healthcare workers and other high-risk groups in the first phase of the rollout.

Iran also has plans to import some 17 million doses of vaccine from the WHO's COVAX channel beside countries like India and South Korea, in addition to co-producing a vaccine with Cuba.

Iran is also preparing to produce a homegrown vaccine. Two vaccines manufactured by domestic knowledge-based firms have already passed the human trial phase, expected to be ready by summer.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Iran is part of the global worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). On 19 February 2020, Iran reported its first confirmed cases of infections in Qom. The virus may have been brought to the country by a merchant from Qom who had travelled to China.

In response to the Covid-19 coronavirus the government cancelled public events and Friday prayers; closed schools, universities, shopping centers, bazaars, and holy shrines; and banned festival celebrations.

Economic measures were also announced to help families and businesses.

The Iranian economy entered a third consecutive year of recession following the triple-shock of sanctions, oil market collapse and COVID-19. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 6.8 percent in the Iranian calendar year 2019/2020 as a result of expiration of US sanctions waivers on Iran's oil exports.

Iran Standard Time (IRST) or Iran Time (IT) is the time zone used in Iran. Iran uses a UTC offset UTC+03:30. IRST is defined by the 52.5 degrees east meridian, the same meridian which defines the Iranian calendar and is the official meridian of Iran.

Between 2005 and 2008, by decree of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran did not observe daylight saving time (called Iran Daylight Time or IRDT). It was reintroduced from 21 March 2008.

The modern flag of Iran is a tri-colored green, white, red. Green represents several factors of the country. It symbolizes the Persian culture, its language, nature, growth, and vitality. White represents freedom and peace. Red symbolizes the blood of the martyr, vitality, and sophistication.

Iran 2020 population is estimated at 83,992,949 people at mid year according to UN data. Iran population is equivalent to 1.08% of the total world population.

Does Iran really have nuclear weapons? Iran maintains that it has never sought nuclear weapons and never would. It says its nuclear work only has civilian aims. Tehran began breaching the deal's curbs last year in a step-by-step response to President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the deal in May 2018 and the reimposition of USA sanctions.

The following information is according to the COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

Total Global Deaths from Covid-19: 2,653,182

Countries with most Global Cases of Covid-19:

29,436,516 USA

11,483,370 Brazil

11,359,048 India

4,341,381 Russia

4,271,710 United Kingdom

4,131,874 France

3,223,142 Italy

3,183,704 Spain

2,879,390 Turkey

2,578,842 Germany

2,303,144 Colombia

2,195,722 Argentina

2,163,875 Mexico

1,906,632 Poland

1,746,953 Iran

1,529,420 South Africa

1,509,983 Ukraine

1,419,455 Indonesia

1,407,963 Peru

1,399,078 Czechia

1,172,916 Netherlands

914,595 Canada

891,110 Chile

859,709 Romania

818,977 Israel

814,257 Portugal

805,321 Belgium

758,184 Iraq

712,527 Sweden

621,498 Philippines

605,200 Pakistan

570,645 Switzerland

557,395 Bangladesh

516,490 Hungary

516,277 Serbia

493,568 Austria

488,937 Morocco

477,053 Jordan

447,284 Japan

426,397 United Arab Emirates

418,448 Lebanon

382,407 Saudi Arabia

347,641 Panama

337,503 Slovakia

323,763 Malaysia

302,323 Belarus

302,221 Ecuador

278,557 Bulgaria

275,231 Nepal

274,989 Georgia

273,521 Kazakhstan

259,004 Bolivia

251,045 Croatia

246,045 Dominican Republic

241,834 Tunisia

240,295 Azerbaijan

226,741 Ireland

221,151 Denmark

221,147 Greece

209,523 Kuwait

209,304 West Bank and Gaza

209,093 Costa Rica

205,385 Lithuania

204,463 Moldova

200,374 Slovenia

190,924 Egypt

182,679 Guatemala

180,014 Paraguay

178,385 Armenia

177,832 Honduras

175,467 Ethiopia

170,252 Qatar

160,657 Nigeria

146,867 Oman

145,379 Venezuela

144,993 Libya

142,160 Bosnia and Herzegovina

142,147 Burma

131,001 Bahrain

117,474 Albania

115,265 Algeria

113,236 Kenya

112,646 North Macedonia

101,373 China

95,635 Korea, South

93,781 Latvia

87,907 Sri Lanka

87,762 Ghana

86,850 Kyrgyzstan

84,807 Estonia

84,797 Zambia

83,693 Montenegro

80,567 Uzbekistan

80,440 Norway

76,070 Kosovo

71,691 Uruguay

66,869 Finland

64,516 Mozambique

62,086 El Salvador

61,472 Cuba

60,105 Singapore

57,503 Luxembourg

55,985 Afghanistan

41,200 Namibia

40,622 Cameroon

40,581 Uganda

39,651 Cyprus

37,653 Cote d'Ivoire

36,892 Senegal

36,484 Zimbabwe

34,098 Botswana

32,789 Malawi

30,873 Sudan

30,499 Jamaica

29,123 Australia

27,014 Congo (Kinshasa)

26,927 Thailand

26,535 Malta

21,572 Maldives

21,380 Angola

21,356 Madagascar

20,186 Rwanda

17,742 Guinea

17,438 Mauritania

17,237 Eswatini

16,660 Gabon

16,478 Syria

16,101 Cabo Verde

13,308 Tajikistan

12,632 Haiti

12,372 Burkina Faso

12,370 Belize

11,266 Andorra

10,530 Lesotho

9,429 South Sudan

9,329 Congo (Brazzaville)

9,190 Somalia

9,160 Guyana

9,024 Suriname

8,913 Mali

8,658 Bahamas

8,070 Togo

7,783 Trinidad and Tobago

6,562 Equatorial Guinea

6,537 Nicaragua

6,501 Benin

6,268 Djibouti

6,072 Iceland

5,023 Central African Republic

4,985 Gambia

4,860 Niger

4,309 Chad

4,126 San Marino

4,031 Saint Lucia

3,961 Mongolia

3,937 Sierra Leone

3,635 Comoros

3,447 Guinea-Bissau

3,421 Barbados

3,315 Seychelles

3,038 Eritrea

2,836 Yemen

2,612 Liechtenstein

2,554 Vietnam

2,461 Burundi

2,423 New Zealand

2,107 Monaco

2,078 Sao Tome and Principe

2,030 Liberia

1,819 Papua New Guinea

1,680 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

1,305 Cambodia