Iran will begin COVID-19 vaccination on Tuesday using the Russian vaccine, February 9, IRNA reported referring to the country's health minister, Saeed Namaki.

The minister said the priority groups of people to be vaccinated are doctors and nurses working in intensive care units.

Namaki said Iran selected and imported one of the least harmful and least dangerous vaccines after evaluating the most reliable drugs.

Iran also purchased nearly 16.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine under the COVAX program to vaccinate 8.4 million people, he said, noting, however, that more vaccines still need to be procured.