Corona in Iran; From Eid al-Fitr Prayer Ceremony to Parliamentary Representative’s Statement on Vaccination Black Market

According to official statistics from Iran’s Ministry of Health, from the 19th to the 20th of Ordibehesht, 18,408 new COVID-19 patients were confirmed in Iran. Additionally, 351 people lost their lives due to COVID-19.

Many doubt the accuracy of official statistics, and even the Islamic Consultative Assembly Research Center has stated that the actual figures for infection and death are several times higher than official numbers.

Has the fourth wave ended in Iran?

While a few days ago Saeid Namaki, Iran’s Health Minister, claimed the fourth wave has ended by noting that in most provinces the epidemic curve has shown a downward trend, Saoud Mardani, a member of the Coronavirus Combat Task Force Committee, does not find the claim of “passing through the fourth wave of coronavirus” logical.

Mr. Mardani says some cities are at the beginning of the “fourth peak” while others are facing “the establishment of this wave.”

Meanwhile, starting Saturday, following the announcement of the National Coronavirus Combat Task Force, as of Saturday, the 18th of Ordibehesht, a number of businesses resumed their activities after weeks of closure.

This is while many merchants are protesting the government’s lack of support for businesses during the coronavirus pandemic and mandatory closures, and in recent days, reports of spontaneously closing shutters of shops in various parts of the country have been circulated on social media.

Determining the fate of final exam administration

After a period of disagreement between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health over holding in-person exams, finally the National Corona Task Force decided to hold in-person exams.

Khosro Saki, head of the Center for Assessment and Monitoring of Education Quality, said in this regard: “The National Corona Combat Task Force emphasizes three issues: first, that traffic routes should be short, second, that gatherings be reduced as much as possible, which should be observed both during student entry and exit and in the exam area, and the third matter relates to having proper ventilation in exam areas.”

In recent weeks, students in different cities protested holding their final exams in person despite the prevalence and spread of coronavirus by chanting slogans such as “We don’t want in-person exams, we don’t want” and “In-person exams are impossible with coronavirus,” and gathered.

Travel restrictions and Eid al-Fitr prayer ceremony

While “inter-provincial” travel restrictions have been imposed for the Eid al-Fitr holidays, the Eid al-Fitr prayer will be held.

Hossein Ghasemi, secretary of the Security, Social and Executive Committee of the National Corona Management Task Force, announced that there are no restrictions during Eid al-Fitr holidays, but rather “inter-provincial” travel bans will be enforced.

Meanwhile, Mehdi Hajian, spokesman for NAJA (Law Enforcement Force), told IRNA about a one-million-toman fine for vehicles traveling in “red” (very high-risk) cities.

On the other hand, Ali Nouri, deputy of organizing affairs of the Council of Friday Prayer Imams Policy said the Eid al-Fitr prayer will be held in red and orange cities in open spaces with “strict observance of health guidelines” and in yellow and blue cities based on “smart management plan” in prayer grounds and mosques. Details of this smart plan have not been released.

Mr. Nouri asked people who have underlying diseases or disease symptoms not to participate in the prayer.

Vaccination black market made headlines again

Domestic Iranian media covered the statements of Massoumeh Pashayee Bahram, representative of Mianeh and Jolfa, regarding violations in the vaccination process.

This parliamentary representative, pointing out that some vaccines “outside the official distribution chain” are being sold on the black market for “substantial sums,” said: “Each AstraZeneca vaccine is sold on the black market for up to 25 million tomans, while the final price of this vaccine is 300,000 tomans.”

The representative of Mianeh and Jolfa said more than 50 percent of vaccine codes are not registered in the “TITHAK system” and this increases the likelihood of injecting counterfeit vaccines. He considered preventing violations through using the “TITHAK” system’s supervisory capacity as a solution.

With the beginning of public vaccination in Iran, disagreement among officials began over the use of two tracking, tracing and verification systems for health products “TITHAK” belonging to the Food and Drug Organization and the integrated health system “SIAB” belonging to the Deputy Ministry of Health, and continues.

Source: Voice of America