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Amid Controversy, Iran Permits Importing Vaccines For Those Willing To Pay

Amid an extremely slow rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has finally issued permission on Friday to import vaccines for selling to those willing to pay for it, despite repeated pledges that vaccines will be free for all.

The idea of selling Covid vaccines to those who can afford it came out earlier in the week from the Coronavirus Task Force and immediately met public criticism. Other officials first denied it, but in a matter of days it became apparent that the decision had already been made when Rouhani endorsed the plan to sell vaccines on the open market. In this respect, Iran is the only major country in the world that would allow people with money to jump the line and get vaccinated.

Iran has inoculated only 0.4 percent of its population, while regional counties are well into their mass-vaccination, with the United Arab Emirates having inoculated up to 47 percent of its population. Many health and essential workers are still not inocultaed, with dozens of nurses and doctors dead from Covid.

The Islamic Republic often uses the tactic of first hinting at the existence of a potentially unpopular plan, then denying it and finally making it a reality. The scheme has worked in several areas including privatization and selling stocks and bonds, but it went terribly wrong in the case of raising fuel prices in 2019, which was met by nationwide protests.

Rouhani issued the permission after a week of heated debate in the media and among officials in his administration. According to Rouhani, private companies can now import vaccines "for those who do not want to wait for their turn.” The scheme calls for the government to offer dollars at a much lower rate than the free market to yet unknown entities who would buy the vaccines overseas and then distribute in the country.

This comes while the total number of doses of the vaccines administered so far in Iran is less than 700,000 in a population of over 82 million people. According to the Health Ministry, the vaccination has still not fully covered the country's medical staff including doctors and nurses.

Rouhani's chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi admitted on Friday that some people buy their vaccines from Tehran's risky black market, while others travel abroad and remain there for weeks during which they get both doses of their COVID-19 vaccine. He said "This is not right."

He explained, "That is why the President has permitted private companies and hospitals to import vaccines at the special rate of exchange and administer it under the Health Ministry's supervision to those who do not wish to wait for their vaccination turn." He added that several private and government companies have volunteered to import the vaccines. This of course would be lucrative business for companies involved, whether “private” or directly government controlled. Most so-called private companies are also affiliated with powerful individuals or government banks and semi-official entities.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned American and British vaccines in early January, insisting that he does not trust Western countries and pushed for the developments of local variants. However, it is not clear when any reliable local vaccine will reach production stage.

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