Islamic Republic Ministry of Health updated the list of COVID-19 “high risk” areas. Number of “red” cities increased by 7 to 29, and provinces comprising of these cities rose by 4 to 16, more than half of Iran provinces. Mazandaran recorded another surge in its cases. 230 tested positive for coronavirus in Semnan in the past 24hrs. Zanjan has 200 patients hospitalized.
Chairman of Tehran Corona Combating Committee criticized the “coloring map” and its criteria, requesting it to be changed. Dr. Zali confirmed central cities in Iran are becoming “red and orange” which signal the sixth wave. He added the public transportation system is a petri dish for the novel coronavirus. Tehran Governor, on the other hand, demanded a stricter screening process in the IKA, since the current wave in Russia and other neighboring countries could bring Delta Plus or other variants to the country.
On the vaccination front, the criticism about “domestic vaccines” continue. Since the FDA letter was leaked and premature “emergency use” approvals were handed out to COVPars and FakhraVac without any results being published, the Islamic Republic is trying to control the damage. Today, an official from FDA announced these vaccines will carry out their third phase of clinical trials as “booster shot.”
Dr. Tabarsi, member of Scientific Committee of the National COVID-19 Task Force, admitted 23% of the eligible people have not received any jab. He also confirmed that several cases of Influenza A have been reported in the country. He denied any Delta Plus being “recorded” in Iran. While the infectious-disease specialist says the third (booster) dose is currently being administered to healthcare staff only, WHO considers “full vaccination” for Sinopharm receivers only when 3 doses have been administered. More than 80% of administered shots in Iran are Sinopharm, but according to the official data, only 36,054,893 (42.92% of Iran population) have received 2 doses of these vaccines.
On the other hand, Dr. Khazaei of Hamedan Medical University called reopening of schools by November 21, a mistake since “only 20% of 12-18 years old students have received 2 doses of the vaccine.” It is worth mentioning, the vaccine used on students is the same Sinopharm which has not been approved for this age range and has been proven ineffective against Delta. Khamenei banned US and UK made vaccines.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 160 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 10,104 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 302,000 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: 5,944,599 (+10,104)
Dead: 126,616 (+160)
Recovered: 5,534,667
Critical: 3,818 (-41)
Active Cases: 283,316 (-2,792)
Total Tests: 35,726,294
Cover: Koosha Mahshid Falahi