Deputy Head of Ahvaz Medical University warned about BA.2 wave in Iran considering a new surge of cases has been reported in some European countries and Turkey. Dr. Alavi called COVID-19 vaccination rate “unsatisfactory” and urged everyone to receive their 3rd dose as soon as possible. Dr. Heybar from Ahvaz Medical University expressed his concern about extreme usage of hospitals’ equipment and burnout of healthcare staff, warning about “catastrophic situation in the next wave.”
Meanwhile, officials blame people for not compling with COVID-19 “protocols”, the same protocols that are not being followed by officials themselves. The Islamic Republic insists on in-person classes, all businesses being open, and traveling allowed during the most crowded days of the year, despite experts’ warnings about another wave during Persian New Year holidays. In Khuzestan alone, more than 8,000 students have not received any vaccines and more than 630 students under 14 have been hospitalized in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari, with 3 children under 2 dying of the disease.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 23,773,941 (28.30% 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 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.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 154 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 4,089 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 324,000 have died of the disease since February 2020.
R0: 1.94
Total: 7,084,306 (+4,089)
Dead: 137,747 (+154)
Recovered: 6,719,004
Critical: 3,983 (-73)
Active Cases: 227,555 (-5,938)
Total Tests: 47,647,542
Cover: Ali Haddidi-Asl
