ANKARA

Iran began Tuesday administering the coronavirus vaccine on medical staff, who are working at some 635 hospitals across the country, according to local media.

Parsa Namaki, son of Health Minister Saeed Namaki, became the first Iranian to receive Russian-developed vaccine, Sputnik V, IRNA official news agency reported.

A ceremony was held early Tuesday at Tehran Imam Khomeini Hospital with the participation of the Namaki.

"People should be assured that if a vaccine is imported to the country, all officials trust it,” said President Hassan Rouhani, who attended the ceremony via video conference.

The top priority groups of people for vaccination are doctors, nurses and other medical staff working at intensive care units of the hospitals, Namaki said.

People over 65 and those with chronic diseases will be among the second group of people to be vaccinated.

The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines ordered from Russia arrived in Tehran on Feb. 4.

Iran reported over 1.4 million coronavirus infections and more than 58,500 fatalities so far, while total number of recovered people surpassed 1.2 million.