Islamic Republic President made up some lies in his “response” to the “presidential candidates” of the upcoming sham “elections.” They have accused Hassan Rouhani and his administration of mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis in Iran. While that is true, but it was not just the administration which failed at every turn and still continues to blunder, but it is the whole system, as it has been reported throughout the 16-month. Khamenei banning US and UK made vaccines, rejecting US help during the first months and later, hiding the truth by security apparatus of the regime and continuous manipulation of facts and statistics are just a few samples. However, in his “response,” Rouhani claimed that Iran has had less confirmed deaths per million compared to India. The official data from both countries, indicate Iran has had significantly higher COVID-19 deaths than India since the epidemic began. Even at the height of the pandemic which India is struggling with the more virulent Indian (Delta) variant of coronavirus.
Hassan Rouhani also claimed the regime began purchasing vaccines immediately when they were available! Vaccines were available in December 2020, while February 9, 2021 the first vaccine was administered in Iran. And now that he says more vaccines are being imported, shortage of doses has been confirmed by the National Task Force Spokesman, other officials and local reports. According to his Ministry of Health, so far only 802,594 (0.95% of population) have received both doses of vaccines while total of 5,107,836 doses have been administered.
Dr. Raisi, National COVID-19 Task Force Spokesman, confessed the “June 22” timeline to complete vaccination of vulnerable groups is not going to be reached! However, he blamed it on the Chinese and Russian companies for not delivering shipments on time. He also claimed that the target population (about 13-14 million) will be vaccinated by July 7! Raisi once again said part of the 3million shipment will arrive “this week” and second doses will be administered from next week.
Deputy Health Minister in Public Health continued, coronavirus cases are on the rise in 4 provinces. He also mentioned Hormozgan as the current hotbed for the virus. He reiterated that all eligible adults in Iran will receive 1 shot by March 20, 2022, and demanded the government to reach a new agreement with China for vaccines used to immunize children 5 and above. Raisi added, all college students will be vaccinated by the end of fall. However, according to Islamic Republic officials, the term “vaccinated” is used loosely and means receiving 1 shot, while studies have shown, especially with the rise of Delta variant and other more potent strains, 2 doses are required to reach enough resistance against the virus.
Despite severe shortage of vaccines and people worrying about the delay between the 2 doses, several officials from the prosecutor’s office in Shiraz, Fars received vaccines out of turn! The office issued a statement confirming the reports and blaming it on the high infection and death rate among their workers, as if this was exclusive to their office! The statement also clearly states that the action was taken by permission from all officials involved. It is worth noting, Fars was one of the first provinces to announced they were out of doses and that many healthcare workers have not been vaccinated yet!
On the other hand, provincial authorities continue to express their worry about “elections” gatherings. Khuzestan officials warn that COVID-19 deaths increased 3.4% last week, compared to the week before. That is where Ebrahim Raisi held a gathering and claimed everything was according to the protocols. However, National Task Force issued a statement calling his statement false and that the gathering was crowded where none of the restrictions were abode by, put aside the fact that he had to bring in people from 28 counties across the province cramped in buses!
Hormozgan continues to report a dire situation. The Medical University Spokesperson confirmed 20% rise in definite COVID-19 deaths during last week from the week before. Mashhad Medical University officials express their concern over the fifth wave of coronavirus caused by “elections” gatherings. Deputy Governor of Markazi sounded the alarm for the next wave due to the gatherings as well. Shiraz Medical University reported a spike in hospitalizations and infections across Fars province too. Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari authorities issued a warning along those lines similar to other provinces. Sistan-Baluchestan Governor expressed his worry over the increasing number of cases, warning Delta variant might become dominant soon.
Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 115 died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24hours and 7,444 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Sima Sadat Lari, as usual, did not mention any variant specific details, despite Delta and Beta being confirmed in several provinces. Iran Medical Board officials estimate the real number of cases and deaths in Iran are at least 3 times higher than the daily reports. Graphs show the history of 16-month mismanaging the deadly COVID-19 crisis in Iran by the Islamic Republic regime.
R0: 2.93
Total: 3,020,522 (+7,444)
Dead: 81,911 (+115)
Recovered: 2,640,281
Critical: 3,483 (-11)
Active Cases: 298,330 (-8,150)
Tests: 21,435,900 (25.6% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Fatemeh Rahimavian
