Corona in Iran; Death Toll Surges, Oxygen Equipment Shortage

655 deaths in one day. A new record coinciding with the announcement by the head of the Food and Drug Organization regarding the import of Pfizer vaccine and a tenfold increase in Remdesivir consumption. However, a member of the National Vaccine Committee emphasized that patients’ primary need is oxygen, not medication.

359 cities in Iran are in red status, 59 cities in orange status, and 30 cities in yellow status. These are the latest figures from the Ministry of Health alongside the highest death toll record from COVID-19 since the pandemic began; 655 people have died in a single day.

Simultaneously, it was announced that the daily vaccination record has also been broken with 699,000 people vaccinated in one day. The public relations office of this ministry stated that so far 15 million, 454,000, and 351 people have received the first dose of vaccine and 4 million, 381,000, and 288 people have received the second dose.

Dr. Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, head of Iran’s Food and Drug Organization, announced the issuance of permits for importing Pfizer and Moderna vaccines from “authorized sources” and stated: “The name of a vaccine does not cause import restrictions. Rather, a trusted and reliable source for the Ministry of Health is considered.”

In explaining authorized sources, he referred to Pfizer’s public relations stating that vaccine delivery is only made to governments and the private sector is not involved in buying and selling it.

The Young Journalists Club, citing Shanehsaz, wrote: “When we prevent imports, some people are bothered and these individuals, at their own expense, publish false news against the health minister. During the transition between two governments, we faced the fifth wave of corona and many people were affected and Remdesivir consumption increased tenfold within 72 hours. Serum consumption also increased accordingly and manufacturers could not fulfill their commitments.”

He also emphasized that Remdesivir medications were imported without the permission of the Food and Drug Organization from an unverified source, which requires investigation, but the stockpile of this medication, which is domestically produced, is sufficient for three months.

Ineffectiveness or Limited Effectiveness of Remdesivir

A member of the “National Corona Vaccine Committee,” based on a global study in 405 hospitals, announced that Remdesivir and Favipiravir have no effect or limited effect in treating corona.

Dr. Mostafa Qanei, head of the Respiratory Disease Research Network, citing articles from the prestigious journal “Nature,” stated that Favipiravir or Hydroxychloroquine have no effect in reducing mortality in COVID-19 patients and even lead to complications such as worsening liver and kidney function.

He emphasized in a television program that patients die from lung swelling, inflammation, and oxygen reduction, and recommended to health ministry officials to spend the cost of the aforementioned medications on purchasing oxygen equipment.

According to Qanei, five trillion tomans have been spent so far to provide Remdesivir, which would have been better spent on oxygen supply, anticoagulant drugs, and intensive care beds, as well as paying the salaries of medical staff.

Oxygen shortage, slow vaccination pace, and increased mortality and infection rates have prompted some citizens to launch campaigns called “Compassionate Oxygen” to collect monetary donations and provide oxygen equipment. An effort that can never compensate for the major hospital needs and neglect of government officials.

The Iranian Ministry of Health meanwhile announced that some provinces are passing the peak of the fifth wave of corona. In a statement from this ministry: “It appears that the hospitalization trend in Isfahan, Bushehr, Tehran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Semnan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Fars, Qom, Kerman, Golestan, Mazandaran, Hormozgan, Hamadan, and Yazd in the past week has declined compared to the previous week.”

Sistan and Baluchestan Province’s passage through the peak of the fifth wave is also considered definite. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Iran, according to official statistics, is reported as 98,000 and 483 people, but independent research suggests the actual figure is at least double the government’s data.

The leader of the Islamic Republic in his latest speech called corona the country’s first problem and demanded vaccine provision by any means, whether through domestic production or imports. He, who banned imports of American and British vaccines in December 2020, claimed that before the production of domestically-made vaccines, foreign sellers were “breaching their commitments” despite receiving vaccine payments. Many citizens and social media users have held Khamenei directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands during the corona pandemic.

Source: DW