Increased casualties of corona and vaccine shortages engulf Iran

The number of corona patients and casualties in Iran is increasing sharply. Iran requires 120 million doses of vaccine to tackle the crisis. Officials promise that the first round of vaccinations will be finished by the end of May. According to the latest statistics which is released by the Ministry of Health, more than 25,000 new cases of corona have been identified in Iran, and 304 people have died of Covid 19. It is announced by the Public Relations and Information Center of the Health Ministry that 361,951 people have received the first dose of Corona vaccine and 100,691 the second dose, and the total number of injected vaccines in the whole country has reached 462,642 doses. As of Wednesday (April 25), a total of 65,359 people have been corona victims. 295 cities are in red and 99 in red-orange statuses, respectively.

Total vaccines bought by Iran

Alireza Raisi, Deputy Minister of Health said that 700,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had recently arrived in Iran from COVAX. He envisages that with the current vaccination process, the first phase of vaccinating will be completed by mid-May. According to him, about 400,000 doses from China are expected to be received by the government, and the second phase of corona vaccination can begin in mid-May. Iran has purchased half a million doses from India, of which only 125,000 doses have arrived so far. Kianoosh Jahanpour, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration, announced last week (April 7) that Iran has so far ordered 42 million doses, of which 21 million have been finalized. Since February 2021, the process of gradual delivery of this number of vaccines has started. Of 16 million and 800 thousand doses, COVAX vaccines bought by Iran the first shipment included more than 700 thousand doses of AstraZeneca vaccine produced in South Korea, which, according to Jahanpour, was delivered to Iran on April 6 with a delay of two to three weeks. Jahanpour has said that in total, according to COVAS’s promise, 3,600,000 of the 16,800,000 doses of vaccine purchased will be delivered to Iran by the end of May. He also said that given the population of Iran, more than 120 million doses are needed for vaccination.

Iranian health officials have announced mass production that is supposed to ensure the safety of citizens. Kianoosh Jahanpour has also promised that vaccination against Corona is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2021 or 1400 according to the Persian calendar. Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Sharifi Moghaddam, Secretary-General of the Iranian Nursing House, censured the Iranian Ministry of Health and told Rokna News Agency that the Corona vaccine had been imported in limited quantities and that the conditions for distributing these vaccines were not suitable.

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About the Author:

Mahtab is a women’s right activist in Iran and a freelance writer.

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