According to the flawed “coloring system” of the Islamic Republic Ministry of Health which is based on the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000, “red” cities have jumped from 120 to 247, no “blue” cities are on the map of Iran, 112 are “orange” and 89 designated “yellow!” Omicron continues its rage throughout the country while Islamic Republic holds its “anniversary parade,” even in “red” regions, without following any of the protocols and against experts’ advice.
Mr. Health Minister said Iran is in the middle of its 6th wave of COVID-19 and urged people to “complete their vaccination” by receiving their 3rd dose. He also called upon people not to attend any gathering but at the same time encouraged them to participate in religious gatherings and regime ceremonies! And Director of PR Office at the Ministry denied the news of “remote working for bank employees for 2 weeks!” According to the manipulated data of the regime, in the past 10 days, 1,473 people have contracted the virus every hour, while 4 died. Hospitals are overrun with patients and shortage of healthcare staff has become a major issue.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 20,937,247 (24.92% 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 143 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 31,247 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: 6,761,855 (+31,247)
Dead: 133,437 (+143)
Recovered: 6,260,240
Critical: 3,261 (+164)
Active Cases: 368,178 (+8,947)
Total Tests: 45,898,905
Cover: Fatemeh Rahimavian
