Islamic Republic runs the country on propaganda and lies. In direct contradiction and in a blatant lie, regime’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said, “We had never had or currently have any restrictions on importing Pfizer or Moderna vaccines!” In January, the “Supreme Leader” of Islamic Republic, expressed his distrust in US and UK made vaccines and explicitly said: “I had told officials before, and now I say it publicly, importation of US and UK made vaccines is banned.” Delta variant ravaged through Iran, broke all COVID-19 pandemic records in the country on a daily basis and people blamed everything on Khamenei and the regime. Since then, regime media and officials have done their best to shift the blame to a few people and exonerate Khamenei to no avail.
While the current Vice President had promised 50m doses of COVIran Barekat would be ready by September 22 but only about 4.5m doses have been distributed across the country, Islamic Republic Defense Minister claimed 25m doses of Fakhra vaccine will be available by March 21, 2022. Yesterday, head of IRGC’s Baghiyatallah hospital, admitted no “homegrown vaccine” can be successful if it is not prepaid first!
Meanwhile, Health Minister insists on reopening schools and promises even students between 7-18 years old will be vaccinated. Eynollahi claimed 13m doses will be required for this purpose and the vaccination will begin in the next 2 weeks. According to Red Crescent Society Spokesman, Chinese Sinopharm or Cuban Soberana 02 will be imported for inoculation of students, and all will be immunized by late November. He did not offer any more details on how this timeline would be possible, considering each of those vaccines need at least 4 weeks between their doses. Ministry of Health announced total of 36,637,348 shots have been administered in Iran since February 9, and only 12,492,598 (14.87% of population) are fully vaccinated with ineffective vaccines.
On the other hand, health experts warn the sixth wave is on its way. Head of Shooshtar Medical College estimates the next wave arrives in 6-8 weeks, asking people to get vaccinated as soon as they can. President of Kermanshah Medical University reiterates the point and says it might take another 4-6 weeks till the fifth wave ends. Dr. Moradi said the trend has stabled in Kermanshah for now, but the situation is fragile.
Delta variant and the “black fungus” continue their rampage in Iran. Head of Yaftabad Hospital in Tehran warns hospitalizations are still high and if borders are not controlled, Lambda will arrive in Iran soon. Fars struggles with high volume of hospitalizations and daily COVID-19 deaths. Shiraz Medical University reported 309 admissions in 24hrs and 2-digit deaths! Gilan is experiencing more than 3,000 cases on a daily basis, and officials warn, “COVID-19 is like sparks in the ashes!” 9 have been admitted in Qazvin with mucormycosis and 2 died of the disease in Lorestan. Shortage of Amphotericin B has not been resolved and people are desperate to find it while Islamic Republic officials deny the reports.
The Ministry of Health Spokesperson claimed 448 died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 22,541 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The stats have been criticized since day 1. Tehran University Professor believes these numbers must be multiplied by 7 to reach some reality and Civil Registration Organization data indicate more than 277,000 have passed away from the disease since February 2020. The graphs illustrate the five waves Iran has been through so far, clearly.
R0: 2.63
Total: 5,318,327 (+22,541)
Dead: 114,759 (+448)
Recovered: 4,597,215
Critical: 7,206 (-72)
Active Cases: 606,353 (-6,886)
Total Tests: 30,337,329
Cover: Mina Noei
