“We will reach the peak of the sixth COVID-19 wave in Iran, in the next 3 weeks, and may remain there for 1.5months!” This chilling message was from Dr. Eshrati, epidemiologist, warning the healthcare system may be overrun with flood of patients. Eshrati reminded the officials that 40 days ago, “these days were predicted,” and called on the government to enforce restrictions more seriously. However, as students are dying, hospitals are filled and healthcare staff are getting sick on unprecedented numbers, the Islamic Republic continues to hold religious gatherings, keeps the schools open and allows crowded concerts to go on.
Mashhad Medical University announced 20% of admissions are for ICU beds, exacerbating the shortage of ICU beds across the country. An official from the university predicted admissions and death toll will continue to go up for the next few weeks. “We are not at the peak yet,” Head of Ahvaz Medical University said, warning the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths will rise even further for the next 2 weeks. Head of Abadan Medical College spoke of “steep uptrend” in cases and admissions across Khuzestan. More than 2,000 tested positive in the province in the past 24hours.
Kermanshah reported 5 times increase in hospitalizations from 3 weeks ago. Dr. Rezaeiyanzadeh from Shiraz Medical University warned about “speedy rise” in Omicron hospitalizations in Fars, urging people to “complete their vaccination and comply with protocols.” Daily death toll in the province has reached double digit territory after about 40 days. Omicron cases in East Azerbaijan have multiplied by 5 in “a short time.”
Meanwhile, head of FDA admits some medicines are hard to find in the market and blames it on the misallocated budget. Dr. Daraei said the money for importing 1-year of drugs has run out in the first 6 months and the industry needs more money! He confessed PastoCoVac has not had their required “primary material” which are imported. Daraei continued his confessions by admitting to massive corruption in the industry and claimed he would not allow the “drug industry to become like auto industry which is exclusive to some,” a claim that has already been refuted and its opposite been proved.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 21,279,695 (25.33% 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 148 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 25,812 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.
R0: 2.36
Total: 6,806,265 (+25,812)
Dead: 133,718 (+148)
Recovered: 6,298,727
Critical: 3,374 (+31)
Active Cases: 373,820 (+8,211)
Total Tests: 46,062,703
Cover: Mohammad Mohsenzadeh
