The head of the Iranian Association of Travel Services, confirming the increase in demand for travel to Armenia motivated by Vaccination Tour, said: “There is no legal ban or objection to these trips.”
According to ISNA, the news of the Iranians’ trip to Armenia for the Vaccination Tour has had many reactions these days.
Kianoosh Jahanpour, head of public relations at the Ministry of Health and spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration, said: “Armenia has the Astraznka vaccine, which has not been widely accepted and the people of this country have not used the vaccines. Because these vaccines have an expiration date, they are injected into tourists who travel there.”
He said that the non-acceptance of the people of Armenia for vaccination and the injection of surplus vaccines to tourists is one of the problems of the mentioned country. It should not be considered a good option, and the Vaccination Tour should stop.
On the other hand, Alireza Reisi, spokesman for the National Corona Anti-Corruption Headquarters, said, there is no need for them to travel abroad to receive the corona vaccine because the government must provide the people with the free corona vaccine, which is being proceeded.
The advertisement of the Vaccination Tour by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts has been declared illegal and has not been approved by the National Corona Headquarters.
Mehrsa Sabzehaha, internal manager of a travel agency in Tehran, confirmed the increase in demand for travel to Armenia in recent weeks, after announcing that the country would give free vaccines to foreign tourists. She told ISNA: Vaccination Tour and demand for motivated travel have increased, but it is not the case that empty seats are not found on flights on this route and buses to travel to the border are scarce.
If the government does not speed up the vaccination process, people would not wait. They will choose the alternative.