Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei received a dose of the COVIran Barakat vaccine which is the country’s first locally developed coronavirus vaccine.

He called the development of the vaccine a point of “national pride.”

“Some insisted from a while ago that I use a vaccine,” Khamenei said.

“I didn’t want to use a non-Iranian vaccine. I said we will wait until, inshallah, the local vaccine is produced and we can use our own vaccine.”

In January, Khamenei banned the Iranian government from importing COVID-19 vaccines from the US and the UK.

"Imports of US and British vaccines into the country are banned. I have told this to officials and I'm saying it publicly now," Khamenei said in a live televised speech.

Human trials on the COVIran Barakat vaccine began in late December.

The vaccine received an emergency use authorization earlier this month.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Iran has confirmed 3,150,949 cases and 83,588 deaths.