Raisi Urges Foreign Minister Zarif to Accelerate Iran’s COVID-19 Vaccine Imports

Speaking in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Ebrahim Raisi said, “The situation and the victims of COVID-19 require that we do not delay the measures needed to contain the situation, even for an hour.”

“I call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Zarif to take the necessary measures to accelerate and increase the import of vaccines into the country, and the officials of the Ministry of Health and institutions such as the Red Crescent to do their utmost to expand and accelerate public vaccination,” he added.

The President called the management of coronavirus the most important issue in the country today and added, “Controlling the outbreak of coronavirus, which has intensified these days, requires the cooperation of all officials like all other acute problems.”

He stressed that if all the country’s capacities are not used to curb the outbreak of coronavirus, it will be difficult to get out of the current situation.
“Another very important point is to persuade public opinion to participate in helping the government in this regard,” he went on to say.

“We respect all the steps that have been taken so far to contain coronavirus, but we must work actively and in more effective ways to overcome the problem,” he said.

Raisi stressed that no one should exclude themselves from observing health protocols and that everyone should feel that they must first follow the instructions themselves.

“Another important point is to pay attention to the families and individuals who have been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus for any reason,” the president said, adding, “As the Supreme Leader emphasised, we must not allow this part of society to suffer any more.”

Raisi added that using positive methods to encourage people to follow the protocols is definitely a priority, adding, “Apart from this issue, measures should be taken so that those who harm the people and society by not following the instructions know that observing the protocols is a must.”