Tehran Corona Combating Committee reported 40% increase in COVID-19 cases in the capital. Dr. Tavakoli warned that Omicron is becoming the dominant variant in Tehran. He confirmed 45-50% of cases are Omicron positive. He added the number of testing is not enough in Iran. Omicron has been confirmed in South Khorasan, as the newest ground. Lorestan and Fars report a surge in their cases and hospitalizations.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 13,476,916 (16.04% of Iran population) are vaccinated against COVID-19 with these vaccines. The majority of shots used in Iran are the ineffective Sinopharm and failed COVIran Barekat. WHO recommends 3 doses of Sinopharm to be effective against Delta but studies have found the vaccine ineffective against Omicron. It is worth mentioning, Khamenei banned US and UK made vaccines in January to promote his own foundation’s COVIran Barekat.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 19 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 4,060 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 begin to rise too. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 317,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 1.48
Total: 6,231,909 (+4,060)
Dead: 132,132 (+19)
Recovered: 6,071,217
Critical: 1,271 (-24)
Active Cases: 26,753 (+1,807)
Total Tests: 43,680,828
Cover: Seyed Mohammad Alerasoul
