Islamic Republic Education Ministry official admits only 24% of students have been fully vaccinated. The vaccine being used in 12-17 years olds is the unapproved and ineffective Sinopharm. Despite the warnings about the sixth wave of COVID-19 in Iran, high schoolers were mandated to go to school from today. Education Ministry Spokesman said the requirement for attending in-person classes is not the “vaccination card” but for the schools to follow social distancing and other protocols! This is clearly opposite of other officials’ claims that “vaccination is required to reopen the schools.”
At the same time, provincial officials are concerned about the sixth wave, schools reopening, low and slow vaccination rate! Health experts warn about the Delta Plus locking down Russia. Gilan and Khuzestan expressed their worry about the slow rate of vaccination saying people are not coming in. Head of Medical Association of Khuzestan emphasized the schools reopening must be done “gradually and slowly, considering the vaccination rate is so low!” However, in addition to high schoolers, middle schools will reopen in 2 weeks as well, and all are mandated to attend in-person.
On the other hand, Khuzestan is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Dr. Abolnejadian of Ahvaz Medical University reported an increase of 12 – 156% in cases in 9 cities across the province compared to last week. East Azerbaijan has 5 cities in the list of “red” areas. Dr. Hemmati of Shiraz Medical University announced expansion of “red” areas in Fars province. He also confirmed that vaccination centers are “quiet” despite vaccines being available. Gilan reports 309 hospitalized patients and officials warn “normalization will lead to another outbreak.” Mazandaran continues to struggle with upward trajectory of COVID-19 in the province.
Meanwhile, the “smart quarantine” is being implemented in more areas of the country. In 2 weeks, nobody is allowed to travel in public transportation without a vaccination card or negative PCR test. Nafisi, head of Crisis Management at the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said negative PCR test will not be enough in the next phase of the plan, since everybody must be vaccinated: “This way people would be encouraged to get the vaccines.” It is worth mentioning, the major vaccine used in Iran is the Chinese Sinopharm which is considered one of the most unsafe and ineffective COVID-19 vaccines in the world. The “domestic vaccines” were a total failure and Khamenei has banned US and UK made vaccines since January.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 120 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 6,803 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 305,000 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: 5,980,260 (+6,803)
Dead: 127,173 (+120)
Recovered: 5,588,545
Critical: 3,713 (-19)
Active Cases: 264,542 (-7,616)
Total Tests: 36,167,151
Cover: Ali Haddadi-Asl
