Islamic Republic Health Minister confirms the sixth wave of COVID-19 is definitely coming to Iran in November! Eynollahi, contrary to his previous statements about “successful control of the pandemic” and “celebrating the end of pandemic”, admitted the current vaccination rate is not enough and only “35% of eligible population” have received 2 doses of vaccines while it must reach 80%! Mr. Minister claimed, in addition to COVIran Barekat which has been in the vaccination process for months, Cinagen, Fakhra and COVPars will be produced in the country soon. He said in the next 2-3 weeks, 60m more doses will be imported! On the other hand, the lead researcher of FakhraVac, “developed” by the regime’s Defense Ministry and named after Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, announced that production of the vaccine will be suspended. Karimi said there is no volunteer or market for the vaccine. Another “homegrown vaccine” bites the dust as their “developers” plunder the budgets.
Dr. Ahmadi-Baloutaki, Secretary of Ahvaz Health Council, warned about the sixth wave in the next 2 weeks. He added, only 25% of eligible population in the country are fully vaccinated (2 weeks have passed since their second dose). He also rebuked the slow vaccination, saying “effective vaccination” must be completed within a short period of time, not taking a year! “We’re only successful in controlling a pandemic, only if more than 70% of population is fully vaccinated within 6 months!” According to official data, since February 9, only 26,006,109 (30.95% of Iran population) have received both doses of these vaccines, while more than 81% have been administered the ineffective Chinese Sinopharm.
Meanwhile, provinces continue reporting increasing number of cases, but none of these warnings have stopped the regime in rethinking the reopening of schools, universities and other businesses. Remote working is canceled across Iran as well. Health Minister confirmed Friday Prayers will be held in the capital this week, and claimed “these gatherings are to help people reach their wishes!”
Shiraz Medical University announced increasing number of cases and critical patients in Fars province, and at the same time, Fars Governor ordered “smart quarantine” (receiving services only with vaccination card) will begin in the province from October 25. Kermanshah‘s daily COVID-19 death toll reach double digits again. Hospitalizations in Mazandaran have increased significantly.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 167 have died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 13,308 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 298,000 have died of the disease since February 2020. Graphs illustrate the ongoing crisis in Iran and forming of the new wave.
R0: 2.10
Total: 5,809,967 (+13,308)
Dead: 124,423 (+167)
Recovered: 5,347,483
Critical: 4,622 (-71)
Active Cases: 338,061 (-1,038)
Total Tests: 34,224,823
