On the one hand, Islamic Republic media and officials claim the sixth wave of COVID-19 in Iran is on the decline path, on the other hand, they blame the people for low compliance with protocols and increasing daily death toll. According to the manipulated and undercounted data of the Islamic Republic Ministry of Health, in recent week, there have been 1,398 deaths due to COVID-19. The same data set shows rising deaths in 29 of 31 provinces in Iran. However, the flawed “coloring system” of the regime which is mostly used for propaganda, downgraded 153 cities and shows only 184 as “red!”
In Shahrud alone, 14 children are currently hospitalized and head of Shahrud Medical University warns about the rising number. Fars admitted 144 while 12 died in the past 24 hours. Ardabil continues to struggle with COVID-19 cases while more than 70% of ICU beds in Khzestan remain occupied with 57 patients being on ventilators. Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Governor expresses his concern over the soaring number of deaths in the province. 238 are in ICU wards of East Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, schools remain open and officials refuse ANY closure of businesses. Deputy Head of Ahvaz Medical University reported open borders without any quarantine or checkups at the check points. Deputy Head of Yasouj Medical University predicts the sixth peak will have another flare up during Persian New Year Holidays because no restriction is being followed. National COVID-19 Task Force announced all traveling during the holidays are allowed! The group did not mention how the authorities plan to check for vaccination cards of travelers. Shirozhan also named one of the “2 companies producing Omicron-specific in Iran” is Khamenei’s foundation, COVIran Barekat, another money hole for the “Supreme Leader.”
The Islamic Republic “Supreme Leader” banned the reliable 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.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 22,922,873 (27.28% 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 Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 224 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 7,039 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. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 323,000 have died of the disease since February 2020.
R0: 2.36
Total: 7,030,943 (+7,039)
Dead: 136,390 (+224)
Recovered: 6,616,633
Critical: 3,966 (-231)
Active Cases: 277,920 (-7,401)
Total Tests: 47,087,743
Cover: Mina Noei
