Islamic Republic President claims he hasn’t taken any COVID-19 vaccine yet and boastfully asserts everybody follows the “National Vaccination Program.” Hassan Rouhani who had declared the end of the fourth coronavirus wave in Iran in late March, stated the peak is passed but the wave is not finished yet and must be vigilant not to fall into another one! He also repeated his previous “hope” that by the end of summer, July 22, or end of his term, August 2, 13-14million vulnerable people will be vaccinated.
Other officials reiterated these points and continue to spout off about decline in cases. National Task Force Spokesman claimed there are only 3 cities (2 in Hormozgan and 1 in West Azerbaijan) in “red” status while all other cities are experiencing decline in their cases and hospitalizations. Raisi also claimed there is a new batch of vaccines entering the country tomorrow, without giving further details.
On the other hand, Semnan officials confirmed there has been no new “coloring” for their cities! Hormozgan Medical University Spokesperson made it clear that in the next 2 weeks, increase in COVID-19 hospitalization and deaths is inevitable in the province, since there is a rise in cases and outpatient cases. Dr. Nowrouzian warned that Indian and South African variants of coronavirus are spreading throughout the province which could expand to neighboring provinces too. And Khuzestan authorities are worried about the outcomes of the Eid Fitr gatherings which were allowed by Islamic Republic Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, Alireza Naaji, a virologist, warned officials that the new variants circulating in Iran, 5-digit cases and hundreds of daily death toll are a sign for the beginning of a fifth wave! He cautioned authorities not to be fooled by the declining numbers since the South African, Indian and Indian-Californian variants of coronavirus which have been confirmed in Iran are much more dangerous than the UK variant. He said the Indian variant involves the youth more and is 15 times more transmittable that previous strains. Naaji also expressed his concern over inefficacy of vaccines against South African strain. It is worth noting, more than 50 cases of these variants have been confirmed in different parts of Iran and first deaths from them were reported 2 days ago.
Islamic Republic officials do not stop their fanatic religious ideology. According to an official in Center for Medical Affairs of Hajj, people going to the pilgrim this year will be vaccinated out of turn! Dr. Doroudi said the Health Minister has promised to provide the vaccination! He also said there are meetings going on about Arbaeen (Arbain) rituals this year, which seems to be happening.
Ministry of Health has administered total of 2,108,721 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Iran since February 9, 2021. According to the data, only 352,626 (0.41% of population) have been fully vaccinated, so far. There have been multiple reports of misuse of vaccines in hospitals, mayoral offices, medical universities,… Many officials, especially Nursing organizations have rebuked the government for slow and unfair distribution of vaccines among groups and their prioritization.
In the meantime, Sima Sadat Lari claimed 200 died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24 hours while 7,723 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She did not provide any specific variant information. According to Iran Medical Board officials, the real figures are at least 3 times higher than the daily report from Ministry of Health Spokesperson. As seen on the graphs, a sharp decline in cases close to the sham “elections” is another sign of manipulation of data whenever it suits regime’s agenda.
R0: 3.55
Total: 2,739,875 (+7,723)
Dead: 76,633 (+200)
Recovered: 2,210,851
Critical: 5,396 (-38)
Active Cases: 452,391 (-7,131)
Tests: 17,882,461 (21.2% of the population, assuming each test was performed on 1 person)
Cover: Mehdi Motamed
