Islamic Republic President questioned the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and said the best way to prevent coronavirus transmission is to wear mask and social distancing. Hassan Rouhani has been advocating for importing vaccines and spouted off about domestic vaccines for months, but today, after Ministry of Health banned private companies from importing Russian Sputnik V and Indian Covaxin, stated, “we can’t be too sure about the vaccines.” At the same time, he ordered Ministry of Health to allow private importers to purchase vaccines.
The Islamic Republic vaccination charade does not end there. Corruption has been rampant at at all levels. After Aliabad Katoul and Abadan which their scandal became public, Tehran is next. In District 6 of the capital, more than 70 people from mayor office put their names in the list of “street cleaners” to receive COVID shots. Tehran Mayor claimed he would publish the names on their website soon.
Meanwhile, 100,000 more doses of Sputnik V arrived in Tehran, bringing the total shots imported to 2,195,000. According to Ministry of Health, since February 9, 2021, 1,002,591 shots have been administered while only 0.24% of Iran population, 204,126, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
COVID-19 continues to ravage through Iran, even though Islamic Republic officials are preparing the data so everything is ready for May 1, 3 and 5 as “Qadr nights” and Eid Fitr approach. Provincial authorities, however, report increasing number of critical cases and hospitalizations. Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee says the capital is experiencing “tragic and very difficult days.” Dr. Zali stated for the first time in 15 months, 1,800 new coronavirus cases were recorded in a day! He confirmed there are 8,300 admitted patients in Tehran hospitals right now. He also mentioned since day 1 of the epidemic, the death rate is 6.3%. Bushehr experiences rise in hospitalizations while several Indian nationals have already tested positive for the novel coronavirus, waiting for sequencing confirmation. Semnan officials recorded 7 times increase in hospitalizations compared to 40 days ago.
Ministry of Health Spokesperson announced her daily manipulated data. Sima Sadat Lari claimed 385 died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Iran while 19,899 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Iran Medical Board officials have admitted the real numbers are at least 3 times higher than what is reported. Active cases continue to reach a new high every day, as seen on the graphs.
R0: 3.82
Total: 2,479,805 (+19,899)
Dead: 71,351 (+385)
Recovered: 1,938,064
Critical: 5,367 (+29)
Active Cases: 470,390 (+4,531)
Tests: 15,693,870 (18.6% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Pouria Pakizeh – Morgue receipts, Hamedan
