Tehran, 13 January 2022 – Islamic Republic of Iran has received the first shipment of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines donated by the Government of Japan and a second shipment will be delivered on 14 January, bringing the total number of donated vaccines to 700 000 doses.

The vaccines were shipped through UNICEF procurement channels on behalf of the COVAX Facility and arrived at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport on Thursday 13 January 2022.

The COVAX Facility is a partnership, co-led by Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi - the Vaccine Alliance and the World Health Organization (WHO), alongside key delivery partner United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the self-financing participant countries of the COVAX Facility, has since April 2021 received 6.7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from its paid allocation. Through COVAX, the United Nations in Islamic Republic of Iran has also facilitated the delivery and shipment of additional COVID-19 vaccines to the country, including 1.6 million doses of Sinopharm as part of the Humanitarian Buffer for refugees, 2.9 million doses donated by Japan, 2 226700 doses donated by Italy and 302,400 doses donated by Germany.