Tuesday, Iran began its vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, using the Russian vaccine 'Sputnik V.'

"We begin our national vaccination against the Covid-19 virus... [in] memory of the martyrdom of health workers," said Iran's President Hassan Rouhani.

The first doses of Sputnik V vaccine arrived Thursday in Tehran, with two more shipments expected to arrive by Feb. 18 and Feb. 28, according to Iranian authorities.

Iran has bought two million doses of the Russian vaccine, the Iranian Ministry of Health told AFP.

According to the Iranian Minister of Health Saeed Namaki, Iran will also receive 4.2 million doses of the AstraZenece-Oxford vaccine through the COVAX Initiative.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Iran recorded a total of 1,481,396 cases and 58,625 deaths.