Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Dr. Payam Tabarsi added, “The conducted studies showed that the antibodies were generated by over 25 times by the SpikoGen booster administered to recipients whose first Covid-19 vaccines were inactive.”
He assured that the Iranian-Australian booster can be administered as the third dose for all vaccines.
Only 12 to 13 million people in Iran have received the third dose, regretted the researcher, saying around 60 million Iranians have been vaccinated with first dose and about 53 million with the second one.
On Thursday, Iran’s deputy health minister announced that SpikoGen has been approved as the third dose for all Covid-19 vaccines.
Dr. Kamal Heidari, in a letter to the universities’ deputy chancellors for health affairs and universities of medical sciences, wrote, “Based on studies, the authorization of Iran’s Food and Drug Administration, and the approval of the National Covid-19 Vaccine Committee, SpikoGen has been approved as the booster for all vaccines used in the country and can be injected at least three months after the second dose.
He added that SpikoGen is being injected as the first and second doses for people aged 18 to 50 and as a booster for the above-18 persons.
SpikoGen has been developed in the Iranian company CinnaGen in collaboration with the Australian Company Vaxine and has received the emergency use license.
New wave
Dr. Minoo Mohraz, a member of the National Coronavirus Taskforce’s Scientific Committee, on Monday said that Iran is witnessing a new wave which will reach its peak within the next two or three weeks.
The vaccines have little impact on the new variant of Covid-19, dubbed Omicron, she warned and underlined that the third dose is necessary for fighting the new variant of the virus.
