Delta variant rampage continues. Even though the Islamic Republic media are trying, once again, to downplay the current critical situation in Iran, hospitals are filled with COVID-19 patients and “black fungus” is rampant. According to an official, more than 500 have been sick with mucormycosis and Amphotricin B, its treatment, remains scarce. On the other hand, the Spokesman for Anti-Smuggling Commission announced 80% of medicine market is not monitored and the Ministry of Health has no intention of controlling it. Another proof that medication mafia has cost thousands of Iranians their lives, especially during the fifth wave of coronavirus.
Dr. Khouhpayezadeh, head of Iran Medical University in Tehran admits the ineffective vaccines used in Iran are one of the main reasons for the longer than usual fifth wave, dominated by Delta variant. He also emphasized the current wave is not over yet and “we may have passed the peak, but it takes time to be able to tell for certain.” He confirmed the sixth wave is a possibility and warned the healthcare workers may not be able to handle it anymore! He warned about schools reopening and asked the decision makers to be vigilant about the COVID-19 situation in each part of the country.
Meanwhile, in a hard-to-reach village in Dezful, Khuzestan, 60% of tests have come back positive with a few of the residents being airlifted to Dezful for more care. Mazandaran continues to report steady trend of cases and hospitalizations. Ardabil and Lorestan are in critical situation.
On the vaccination front, according to the Ministry of Health, the daily administration record was broken yesterday with 1,112,440 shots. Total of 31,450,694 doses administered across Iran since February 9, while only 10,892,656 (12.96% of population) have received both doses. However, the ineffective Sinopharm which comprises the majority of the shots, does not seem enough to control the virus, hold Arbaeen gatherings, reopen schools and universities at full capacity, remove all travel and pilgrim restrictions,….!
Eynollahi made a bold statement today: “We have 21million doses of vaccines in storage!” He continued, 8m doses will be imported tomorrow and 10m next Sunday, and by September 22, “40m or maybe 50m” will arrive in the country. He failed to mention why those millions of doses were not used on people waiting in long lines for weeks and months across the country. He also forgot to mention how come if “US sanctions were to be blamed” for any shortage in Iran, how they have managed to store so many doses and continue to import in millions. Another question is the discrepancies in numbers of imported doses and Health Minister’s statement. According to the regime’s media, so far, more than 40million doses have been imported and more than 31 have been used! Even though, according to our tracking, about 37.5 million doses have arrived in Iran from other countries. On the other hand, an Islamic Republic “parliament” representative claimed, Pfizer and J&J vaccines will be imported from next month! It is worth mentioning, the Islamic Republic “Supreme Leader” banned importation of US and UK made vaccines in January.
The Ministry of Health claimed 538 died of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours in Iran and 26,854 tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Professor Holakoui of Tehran University estimates the real numbers to be 7 times more. Civil Registration Organization data indicate more than 275,000 have passed away from the disease since February 2020. As graphs vividly show, Iran has experienced the highest number of waves due to deliberate mismanagement of the Islamic Republic.
R0: 2.73
Total: 5,210,978 (+26,854)
Dead: 112,430 (+538)
Recovered: 4,453,651
Critical: 7,534 (-72)
Active Cases: 644,897 (-4,595)
Total Tests: 29,791,562