A member of COVID-19 Scientific Committee claims there is “no new variant of the novel coronavirus” to be worried about, however, warned about the new wave in Iran after the Persian New Year Holidays. Since the pandemic was announced in Iran, the Islamic Republic has found an excuse for all traditional ceremonies, discouraging people to hold even smallest family gatherings while encouraging them to participate in crowded indoor/outdoor religious ones. Interior Minister of the regime, contrary to previous reports that 3 dose vaccination of car owners will be monitored during inter-city travels, announced 2 dose will be enough!
On the other hand, experts warn about BA.2 subvariant of Omicron as the holidays approach. Khuzestan officials admit COVID-19 cases are on the rise again. Dr. Jangerannejad attributed the surge to “possibly BA.2.” Epidemiologists call the BA.2 subvariant, Omicron 2.0, which is more transmissible than Omicron itself. Ardabil authorities reported more than double daily death toll in the past 24 hours from the day before. At the same time, Mashhad which has been hit hard in every wave in Iran, has received 60% more tourists from last week. And Ahvaz Medical University confirms the protocols are not enforced in passenger terminals in Khuzestan.
According to official definition of “full vaccination” and Ministry of Health data, since February 9, only 24,342,205 (28.97% 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 144 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 5,841 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: 7,102,159 (+5,841)
Dead: 138,260 (+144)
Recovered: 6,747,070
Critical: 3,428 (-144)
Active Cases: 216,829 (-4,797)
Total Tests: 47,884,518
Cover: Amid Farahi