Islamic Republic continues to induce the idea of “normal situation” and “control of the coronavirus” in Iran. President of the Red Crescent Society said “containing the coronavirus was achieved by healthcare staff who sacrificed themselves.” He follows other officials such as the Islamic Republic President and Health Minister. Furthermore, unmasked anchors and talk show hosts on the state-media has brought on criticism from health experts. Dr. Alavi, deputy head of Ahvaz Medical University called this behavior “dangerous” which encourages non-compliance with COVID-19 protocols among people.
Meanwhile, new studies in other countries indicate that Omicron could evade vaccines, specifically 2 doses of Pfizer! Khamenei banned US and UK made vaccines, promoting his foundation’s COVIran Barekat which failed miserably, and led to the flood of Iran vaccination program with the ineffective and unsafe Sinopharm. WHO had recommended 3 doses of the vaccine for “full vaccination.” However, according to official data, since February 9, only 2,971,806 (3.53% of Iran population) have received 3 shots.
The official data also reveal that 31.2% of Iranians over 10 have not received any vaccine yet, including 51.2% of 10-14 year olds, and 10.8% have only been administered 1 dose of these vaccines. The majority of shots in Iran are of the Chinese Sinopharm. Despite the dismal low vaccination rate, Mr. Health Minister spouts off about “breaking records for daily/weekly administration of shots,” and the regime pushed to reopen the schools for mandatory in-person classes. Following the implementation of “smart quarantine”, all businesses are reopening too.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 67 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 2,784 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 313,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 1.75
Total: 6,157,519 (+2,784)
Dead: 130,764 (+67)
Recovered: 5,975,404
Critical: 3,042 (-27)
Active Cases: 51,351 (-2,445)
Total Tests: 40,258,351
Cover: Foroogh TaherKhani
