COVID-19 continues its rampage in Iran. The Islamic Republic Ministry of Health updated its flawed “coloring system” and upgraded 90 more cities to “red” status to a total of 337! The “coloring” of the map is based on hospitalizations per 100,000, while many do not go to a doctor, do not test and in some areas there is no hospital! In addition, the delay between surging cases and hospitalization has always been criticized by experts but the regime uses this system to downplay the crisis and cover its incompetence.
Almost the entire country is in critical condition but Islamic Republic refuses to enforce any restriction. Even in “red” zones, schools are still in-person and businesses go about their activities as nothing is happening in the country. The theocratic regime holds its propaganda and religious gatherings while blaming people for the ongoing sixth wave.
Shortage of healthcare staff, being sick or die of COVID-19, and overloaded hospitals have made the humanitarian catastrophe more severe. Fars‘ daily death toll continues to rise in addition to hospitalizations. In the past 24 hours, more than 1,300 cases were identified in Khuzestan. West Azerbaijan is experiencing a critical situation too. Ardabil is no exception to other 31 provinces. Gilan reported 184 hospitalizations in 24hours, with a total of 713.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 21,945,173 (26.12% 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 187 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 19,317 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: 6,913,427 (+19,317)
Dead: 134,607 (+187)
Recovered: 6,427,388
Critical: 3,842 (+82)
Active Cases: 351,432 (-5,437)
Total Tests: 46,466,138
Cover: Peyman Hamidipoor
