Corona in Iran; Beginning of Second Phase of Vaccination, Elderly in Long Lines to Receive Vaccine
Ministry of Health statistics show that in the past 24 hours, 434 coronavirus patients died in Iran. Accordingly, the total number of deaths reached 70,966 people. Many doubt the accuracy of official figures, and even the Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly announced that the actual figures for infections and deaths are several times higher than official statistics.
Beginning of Second Phase of Vaccination
While the second phase of vaccination has begun in Iran, there are still ambiguities regarding the registration and vaccine reception procedures.
Following reports of in-person registration and crowding in front of vaccination centers, Alireza Raisi, spokesman for the National Coronavirus Task Force, said there is no need for in-person visits for registration and people will be sent text messages based on vaccine availability.
Mr. Raisi said a system would soon be launched so that individuals who have “fallen through the cracks” can register their national ID number there and be sent a text message.
Meanwhile, a social correspondent for RERKNA published a video of the vaccination queue for people aged 80 and above in Tehran, writing that with the continuation of this process, “they will contract coronavirus before getting vaccinated.”
According to Iran’s Ministry of Health statistics, the total number of vaccine doses administered has reached 938,754 doses.
Delay in Announcing Border Travel Restrictions with India and Pakistan
While concerns about the spread of the Indian variant of the virus have intensified in recent days, border travel restrictions were announced with a several-day delay to authorities operating at the border.
According to Iran’s Customs Spokesman, 192 passengers crossed the borders of Mirjaveh and Rimdan.
Rohollah Latifia said that from Wednesday, the 28th of Esfand, passenger traffic at the Mirjaveh border with Pakistan as Iran’s official border was prohibited, but nationals of both sides will be allowed to return to their country.
Previously, the health deputy of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences told ISNA news agency that 20 Indian nationals had entered Bushehr Province and the test results of 5 of these individuals were reported as positive and 3 others as “suspected.”
Higher Statistics than India and Failure to Implement Protocols
Although India has made headlines due to severe coronavirus conditions in the world, if infection and death rates are measured based on population, Iran has higher daily infection and mortality rates than India.
Iranian health officials say approximately 48,000 coronavirus patients disregarded quarantine and many of them traveled over a thousand kilometers across the country.
Iraj Harirchi, Deputy Minister of Health, stated that protocol compliance is 60 percent. According to Mr. Harirchi, a fine plan of 200,000 tomans for violators has not been “deterrent.”
Meanwhile, Babak Dinparest, secretary of the coronavirus control operational headquarters, requested in a letter to law enforcement the implementation of fines for quarantine violations. According to Mr. Dinparest, in some cases, quarantine violations by a single patient were repeated up to 14 times.
Source: Voice of America
