Islamic Republic officials have started to celebrate “controlling of the COVID-19!” Health Minister credited Basij (militia branch of IRGC) for “mass vaccination” and controlling of the novel coronavirus, and even called the healthcare staff as members of the “Basiji!” The healthcare staff who have been the front line of fighting the deadly virus with long hours, low pay and unpaid wages for months, have been protesting the government for neglecting their safety and needs. Eynollahi called COVID-19 a “test from Allah which Iran came out victorious!” According to the regime’s Ministry of Health, Iran has been through 5 deadly waves, one worse than the other, and more than any other country in the world!
Even though more than 100 are still dying of COVID-19 in Iran, based on manipulated and undercounted data of the Ministry, but Eynollahi believes “Basijis” were the ones inoculating people and stopping the virus! Mr. Health Minister followed his predecessor’s footsteps and compared the current surge in US, Germany, and Europe to the “calm” in Iran. However, he failed to mention death and hospitalization per capita stats, which shows Iran having more deaths than US, India, Germany,… during its peaks, it has had more peaks than any other country and more were killed in Iran than in India, even during the Delta surge, thanks to Khamenei banning US and UK made vaccines in January 2021.
On the other hand, Deputy Health Minister in Public Health warns about schools being reopened and they could become the new hot spot for the novel coronavirus. Dr. Heydari added that vaccines for under 12-year-olds is not available and currently “not on the agenda!” Official data indicate many students remain unvaccinated! Deputy Health Minister in Treatment Affairs sounded the alarm for sudden reopening of all schools and universities with mandated in-person classes and said the scientific committee will issue its suggestions tomorrow! As if they did not have enough time before the schools resumed their normal activities!
While Health Minister is “proud” of his and Basij’s actions and importing the ineffective Sinopharm to Iran, only 833,605 (0.99% of population) have received 3 doses of these vaccines, majority of which are the Chinese shot. According to the WHO, 3 jabs are required for the vaccine to be considered “fully vaccinated.”
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 132 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 5,144 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 309,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 1.93
Total: 6,088,009 (+5,144)
Dead: 129,185 (+132)
Recovered: 5,807,089
Critical: 3,386 (-7)
Active Cases: 151,735 (-7,017)
Total Tests: 37,996,904
Cover: Meysam Maleki
