Tehran, Feb 8 (IANS): Iranian Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki announced that the country's vaccination drive against the novel coronavirus will begin on Tuesday.

Inoculation will start for the population groups most at risk: doctors and nurses working in contact with Covid-19 patients at intensive care units, Xinhua news agency quoted Namaki as saying on Sunday.

The official made the announcement at the launch event for the clinical trial of a vaccine developed by Iran's Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute.

On Sunday, Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari announced 7,065 new Covid-19 cases, raising the country's overall count to 1,466,435.

Of the newly infected, 544 had to be hospitalised, she said.

Over the weekend, 57 new deaths were registered, the lowest daily figure since May 2020, raising the overall fatality toll to 58,469.

Lari added that 1,253,554 infected patients have so far recovered or been released from hospitals, with 3,789 still in intensive care units.

She said 9,667,260 tests for the virus have been so far carried out in Iran.

As of Sunday, 36 Iranian counties are on orange alert for a medium risk of infection, while 412 others are on yellow or blue alert for a low risk.

Iran announced its first cases of Covid-19 on February 19, 2020.