As Arbaeen approaches, Islamic Republic speeds up its COVID-19 vaccination too, to send more people for “pilgrimage!” However, Iranians are taking the opportunity to go to Iraq and inoculate themselves with the Pfizer vaccine. According to local reports, people are spending 10-20times more than the advertised flight price because they want Pfizer. Previously, Iranians flooded Armenia to receive AstraZeneca shots over the Chinese Sinopharm used in Iran. It is worth mentioning, Khamenei has banned US and UK made vaccines !
While WHO hasn’t approved the Wuhan Sinopharm even for adults, and it has been proven it is basically useless in people over 55, but Islamic Republic officials have promoted it as “the best” vaccine, especially for students between 3 to 17-year-old. Eynollahi announced the vaccination for 12-17-year-old groups has begun from today with Sinopharm. At the same time, head of FDA reported PastoCoVac will also enter the market soon, and can be used in adolescents. Dr. Shanehsaz emphasized 6m doses of the vaccine will be available by October 21.
Meanwhile, Islamic Republic Ministry of Health admits Lambda variant is found in the neighboring countries and could reach Iran any day, causing the sixth wave.
According to official data, since February 9, total of 43,372,270 shots have been administered in Iran while only 13,904,702 (16.55% of population) have received both doses of the ineffective vaccines. The Spokesperson claimed 391 died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours and 15,975 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Official data have always been scrutinized since day one. Professor Holakoui says they must be multiplied by 7, while Civil Registration Organization data shows more than 280,000 COVID-19 deaths since February 2020. Graphs continue to depict the ongoing human catastrophe in Iran.
R0: 2.40
Total: 5,424,835 (+15,975)
Dead: 117,182 (+391)
Recovered: 4,764,998
Critical: 6,765 (-71)
Active Cases: 542,655 (-12,518)
Total Tests: 31,007,134
Cover: Ali Haddadi-Asl
