COVID-19 vaccination is on pause until “further notice” in most cities across Iran. After the reports of the shortage and in a drastic shift from the previous policy that “first dose is more important and creates enough immunity,” Islamic Republic officials announced they are to administer more second doses, because that is the “most important dose.” At least this way, there will be small amounts of daily shots to keep up the “national vaccination program” going!
National Task Force Spokesman confirmed the shortage, blaming it on the providers. He said there were supposed to be 3million doses coming in last week but it did not happen. Dr.Raisi claimed the second dose shortage will be rectified next week, but did not offer any details about the source. He mentioned the drastic change in the policy as well, asserting COVIran Barekat results will be ready next week and after approval “everything will be fine.” He also falsely claimed that “many have received their second shots!” Dr. Raisi, in his interview, failed to mention why Islamic Republic officials continue to provide false hope to people. Islamic Republic President, Health Minister and other officials had promised 13-14million vulnerable Iranians will be vaccinated by June 22!
According to Ministry of Health, since February 9, only 682,483 (0.81% of population) have received their second shots and are fully vaccinated while 4,935,261 total shots have been administered. In the meantime, the black market for COVID-19 vaccine is hot in Tehran! In addition to previous reports, 20,000,000 Toman Pfizer jabs are sold to the rich and elites, including several officials. It is worth noting, Khamenei banned US and UK made vaccines in Iran, but apparently, a group of people (IRGC) have enough influence to bypass that ban and work freely in the capital.
In the meantime, Semnan officials reiterated the shortage of vaccines and warned that another breakout is imminent since the situation in southern provinces worsen by the day. Dr. Hemmati from Shiraz Medical University sounded the alarm about increasing number of cases and COVID-19 deaths in Fars. Hormozgan Medical University announced shortage of hospital beds due to a huge rise in coronavirus cases. Dr. Farshidi reported more than 1,000 cases in the past 24hrous, warning the situation will worsen if nothing is done quickly. He exclaimed that most of critical cases are from 40 and under age group.
Khuzestan officials ask residents not to travel to Hormozgan and demanded official travel ban in place. Dr. Abolnejadian, head of Ahvaz Medical University, reported about 100 COVID-19 hospitalizations every day, saying the declining of the fourth wave is very slow! Tehran Corona Combating Committee official confirmed sporadic cases of Indian (Delta) and South African (Beta) in the capital, warning the fourth wave is not over yet
Manipulated data of Ministry of Health indicate almost doubling of coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours in Iran from the day before. Sima Sadat Lari claimed 179 died of the disease while 8,846 tested positive for the virus. As usual, she did not mention any details about the specific variants. Iran Medical Board and other officials have scrutinized the daily reports estimating the real numbers are at least 3 times higher. The graphs, even though based on the official data, vividly illustrate 16 months of incompetency and mismanagement.
R0: 2.93
Total: 2,980,116 (+8,846)
Dead: 81,362 (+179)
Recovered: 2,578,263
Critical: 3,620 (-67)
Active Cases: 320,491 (-3,624)
Tests: 20,938,338 (24.9% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Mousa Mousavi
