Head of the epidemiology group in Isfahan Medical University criticized the Islamic Republic officials for their optimism in “controlling the novel coronavirus in Iran” and emphasized the premature reopenings in recent days, especially in schools and universities, will lead to the sixth wave affecting the younger individuals more. Dr. Marathi warned the sixth wave would be worse than the previous one and officials must refrain from their optimism. He confirmed that at least 90% of the population must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to reach herd immunity, but “only about 40% have become fully immunized.” Head of Isfahan Health Sciences College said it is almost impossible to reach 90% in the next 2 months and people’s compliance with protocols has declined to about 40% which would lead to another wave in January-February. He emphasized on “convincing people” to receive jabs and not forcing them! He rebuked the poor management of the crisis and said a united front is needed to control the deadly disease, not contradictory remarks.
Meanwhile, Islamic Republic officials have announced that vaccination card would be required to receive any service, including banking, health,… The unvaccinated will need to show a negative PCR test. However, none of them has revealed how the process would work. Semnan Governor, for instance, has announced a plan to go door-to-door across the province and inoculate people to “reach 100% vaccination!” University of Tehran issued a mandate for its students to attend classes in-person.
On the one hand, Islamic Republic Health Minister boastfully announces “record breaking administration” of vaccines, on the other hand, local officials express their concern about low turnout in vaccination centers and high number of unvaccinated in hospitals. In Fars province, ICUs are reportedly “filled with unvaccinated COVID-19 patients.” Mazandaran authorities say more than 280,000 residents are not interested in immunization at all. Deputy Head of Ahvaz Medical University confirmed only 33% of students 12-17 have been fully vaccinated by receiving 2 doses of Sinopharm. The vaccine is unapproved for the age range and has been proven ineffective against Delta variant. Dr. Alavi expressed his worry about the next wave!
According to official data, since February 9, only 43,024,902 (51.22% of Iran population) have received 2 doses of these vaccines. WHO recommends 3 doses for Sinopharm receivers to be considered “fully vaccinated.” More than 82% of shots used in Iran have been the Chinese Sinopharm.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 134 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 6,430 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Professor of Epidemiology at Tehran University believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 and Civil Registration Organization data show more than 308,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 2.04
Total: 6,051,642 (+6,430)
Dead: 1128,406 (+134)
Recovered: 5,720,893
Critical: 3,477 (-14)
Active Cases: 202,343 (-6,344)
Total Tests: 37,254,424
Cover: Vahid Khademi
