Top Iranian cleric: No problem to use potential Israeli coronavirus vaccine

As of Thursday, Iran has a reported 10,000 confirmed cases and a death total of 429.

By Aaron Sull, World Israel News

Despite constantly calling for Israel’s destruction, Iran seems to have no problem buying a coronavirus vaccine from the Jewish State if needed.

“It is not permissible to buy and sell from Zionists and Israel. Unless the treatment is unique and there is no substitute,” Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi told the Iranian daily Hamdeli on Wednesday.

The 93-year-old religious authoritarian’s comments come as Iran continues to suffer tremendously from the deadly virus.

The country already has over 10,000 confirmed cases and a death total of 429, Al-Jazeera reported Thursday.

Satellite images of mass graves in the city of Qom, published by The New York Times this week, suggested that Iran’s coronavirus epidemic is much more serious than what the Iranian authorities are letting on.

The excavation of a mass burial section in an unspecified Qom cemetery began on Feb 21. and now measures over 100 yards, the Times reported.

Meanwhile, Israeli scientists believe they are close to making a viable vaccine.

Israeli researchers at the MIGAL Institute have already developed an effective vaccine against avian Coronavirus Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV) and are now working on adapting it to create a human vaccine against the coronavirus, the Jerusalem Post reported.

“All we need to do is adjust the system to the new sequence,” MIGAL researcher Dr. Chen Katz told the Post.

“We are in the middle of this process, and hopefully in a few weeks we will have the vaccine in our hands. Yes, in a few weeks, if it all works, we would have a vaccine to prevent coronavirus,” he added.

According to MIGAL CEO David Zigdon, the vaccine would be made to be taken orally and could “achieve safety approval in 90 days.”

“We are currently in intensive discussions with potential partners that can help accelerate the in-human trials phase and expedite completion of final-product development and regulatory activities,” he said.