While Islamic Republic’s propaganda machine continues encouraging people for Arbaeen and religious gatherings, head of Sina Hospital in Tehran warns that the fifth wave is not over yet and another spike is possible due to Muharram gatherings. Dr. Talebpour rebuked the slow COVID-19 vaccination in Iran and said Arbaeen and any other gathering depends on how quickly the pilgrims would be fully vaccinated while since February 9, only about 10% of Iran population is vaccinated. He also mentioned Iraq’s vaccination and epidemic status is a factor to consider. On the other hand, he warned about Lambda, the sixth wave and added, the ICUs are still full and shortage of healthcare staff has become a major problem. He continued, “If we had vaccinated more people in March, we wouldn’t have seen so many deaths today!”
Chairman of Iran Nursing Council explained the majority of nurses in Tehran have contracted the coronavirus since the epidemic began in February 2020. Armin Zare’ian said, of 35-40,000 nurses in the capital, about 30,000 have been infected. 30 have contracted Delta variant, all of whom were vaccinated with the ineffective vaccines used in the country. Zare’ian emphasized that investigation into the number of Delta infections among nurses is not completed and it is highly likely that number would increase. He criticized the government for overdue wages and benefits and also unfair working conditions for nursing staff, causing many to quit.
Meanwhile, Mashhad officials report ongoing crisis in the second biggest city of Iran, with more than 3,200 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Ardabil keeps recording new figures as daily death toll and increasing cases. Kermanshah has 250-300 patients on ICU waiting list! Lorestan makes it to the list of provinces with highest number of infections and hospitalizations. Markazi is struggling with Delta and expresses concern over Lambda! Health experts and officials do not see enforcement of COVID-19 restrictions in the province.
More than 18 months of COVID-19 health crisis in Iran has made Islamic Republic money and pushed more than 612,000 Iranian below the poverty line. According to Deputy Health Minister Harirchi, the overwhelming cost of treatment has made Iranians poorer, which is contrary to what Saeed Namaki and other officials used to say: “Free COVID-19 treatment!”
On the vaccination front, the havoc continues. Shortage of vaccines, despite officials claiming millions of doses are “being imported”, have closed down more vaccination centers in Isfahan province. Hormozgan too, closed down several centers, following Kermanshah and Khuzestan. In addition to the lack of supply, Bandar Abbas Nursing Board criticized the provincial officials for injecting them with remaining of Pasteur Institute’s Soberana 02 clinical trial! “They were expiring in a few hours and they found healthcare staff as the perfect sacrificial lamb!”
On the other hand, the new Health Minister, Dr. Bahram Eynollahi, in a tweet asked for “people’s help” for faster vaccination process. However, he did not offer any details. Responses to his tweet are very eye opening. One from Disabled Community Campaign demands an answer from him about the promised inoculation of 77,000 disabled and elderly in residences which was never delivered. Another says, “we’re ready to pay for everything, just get us a reliable vaccine!”
According to the Ministry of Health data, since February 9, total of 28,067,827 shots have been administered in Iran while only 9,058,204 (10.78% of population) have received both doses of ineffective vaccines.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 599 died of COVID-19 in Iran in the past 24 hours and 33,170 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. An epidemiology professor believes these stats must be multiplied by 7 to have more realistic data and Deputy Health Minister Harirchi admits the real numbers are “definitely much higher.” According to Civil Registration Organization, since the epidemic began, more than 260,000 have passed away from COVID-19. Graphs illustrate the ongoing massacre in Iran, even though they are based on the manipulated data of the regime.
R0: 2.98
Total: 5,025,233 (+33,170)
Dead: 108,393 (+599)
Recovered: 4,237,315
Critical: 7,860 (-19)
Active Cases: 679,525 (+1,183)
Total Tests: 29,006,289
Cover: Ali Haddadi-Asl
