Tomorrow, February 11, the Islamic Republic is holding its annual “Islamic Revolution Anniversary Parade” across the country while Omicron is ravaging throughout Iran with “exponential surge” in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Deputy Health Minister in Treatment Affairs admitted more than 60,000 go to hospitals across the country with symptoms and about 4,000 are admitted.
Provincial officials continue reporting overflow of COVID-19 patients. Fars recorded more than 275 hospitalizations in the past 24 hours. Mashhad Medical University reported 69% rise in admissions in the past 10 days in the second major city in Iran. East Azerbaijan is on the same boat. Alborz is no exception to other provinces. An official from Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari said majority of people do not take the test but are symptomatic, and emphasized the numbers are 100 times more than what is reported.
As universities and schools keep their in-person classes open, a university in Tehran reported “unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases.” PhD candidates demand the Ministry of Science and Ministry of Health to postpone their entrance exam, the Islamic Republic officials announced they do not have any plan to do so!
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 20,773,200 (24.73% of Iran population) are vaccinated against COVID-19 with these vaccines. It is estimated that more than 53 million Iranians are at risk of contracting Omicron. The majority of shots used in Iran are the ineffective Sinopharm and COVIran Barekat. WHO recommends 3 doses of Sinopharm to be effective against Delta but studies have found the vaccine ineffective against Omicron.
The Islamic Republic “Supreme Leader” banned the relaibale US and UK made vaccines, leading to tsunami of deaths during Delta wave. Khamenei promoted his foundation’s shot, COVIran Barekat, which failed miserably. Multiple “homegrown” vaccines, including PastoCoVac, COVPars, Fakhra, Noora, Spikogen, never met the expectations and none of them has published their results or received recognition/approval from international health organizations. WHO even warned about fake AstraZeneca shots used in Iran. The Ministry of Health denied the report saying the international health body meant the “black market doses used.”
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 130 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 33,681 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Number of daily tests performed in the country continue to decline despite experts advice to have a more active case finding. Active cases soar and critical patients reach a new record. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 320,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 2.36
Total: 6,730,608 (+33,681)
Dead: 133,294 (+130)
Recovered: 6,238,083
Critical: 3,097 (+244)
Active Cases: 359,231 (+11,377)
Total Tests: 45,806,771
Cover: Fatemeh Rahimavian
