Sixth wave of COVID-19 in Iran becomes a serious concern again. Omicron has advanced to new cities and provinces while Islamic Republic officials refuse to close schools or even cancel in-person exams. Head of Abadan Medical College warned about the sixth wave after reporting double COVID-19 hospitalizations in southwestern region of Khuzestan in the past 2 days!
Deputy Head of Shiraz Medical University reiterated the same concern. Dr. Rezaeeianzadeh warned about “explosive spread of Omicron” in Iran and asked people to wear their masks and follow protocols as much as possible. He emphasized on the importance of 3rd dose vaccination to prevent the next wave which might cripple the healthcare system.
Passive Defense Organization official expressed his concern for the sixth wave of COVID-19 and called Omicron one of the main problems of today in the country. However, he failed to mention what has been done by the regime to contain it. Whatever the regime has been doing, including reopening schools, mandated in-person exams, religious gatherings such as Friday Prayers.
Official data indicate that since February 9, only 9,081,671 (10.81% of Iran population) have received 3 doses of 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. In a recent report, the discrepancies indicate that some of the imported vaccines may have been sent for the terrorist group, Hezbollah.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 42 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 1,171 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 315,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 1.54
Total: 6,201,467 (+1,171)
Dead: 131,778 (+42)
Recovered: 6,045,890
Critical: 2,352 (-119)
Active Cases: 23,799 (-514)
Total Tests: 42,484,271
Cover: Majid Khahi
