The beginning of the fifth wave of Corona; Namaki: The world is amazed at how we were able to control this disease
On Tuesday, August 25, Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki, referring to the numerous trips of citizens during the Eid al-Adha holidays, warned that if health protocols are not followed, there will be little hope of getting out of the red zone in most cities in the country.
Iran is facing the fifth wave of the coronavirus, which, according to official statistics, has claimed 354 lives in the past 24 hours alone.
Meanwhile, the vaccination of citizens is progressing slowly, so that so far, less than 8.5 million people have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine and about 2.5 million people have received the second dose, bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the country to about 10.971 million doses.
According to Mr. Namaki, Iranian society is currently at the "uphill of the fifth peak" and "non-compliance with protocols and frequent travel make it difficult to control the fifth peak."
With a surge in coronavirus cases, Tehran was closed for six days, but the spread of the virus has not yet decreased, as the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that nearly 35,000 patients had been identified.
However, the Minister of Health, in contradictory statements at a meeting of the Supreme Policy-Making Board of the Armed Forces Commanders, claimed that the disease had been contained in the country.
Saeed Namaki said: "The world, which was prepared for the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this heavy shock of Corona, is today in amazement at how, with the grace of God, we were able to both control the disease and produce appropriate medicine and equipment, and were able to take effective steps to produce a vaccine on five to six platforms."
This claim comes despite the fact that, according to the Iranian Ministry of Health itself, 232 cities are currently in red status, 117 cities in orange status, and about a hundred cities in yellow status.
Iran says it is working on several coronavirus vaccines. However, so far only the "Iran Barakat" vaccine, produced by the "Imam's Command Executive Headquarters", has reached the stage of public use, although its production is not yet widespread and its efficacy is shrouded in uncertainty.
The Nora vaccine is another such vaccine, a product of the Baqiyatollah University of Medical Sciences affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards. Hossein Salami, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, announced on Tuesday that the human and clinical testing phase of this vaccine has been "successfully" completed.
He stated: "The Nora vaccine is also one of our most important phenomena and achievements, and the human and clinical testing phase of the vaccine was successfully completed, and now friends are preparing to implement the second phase of this work, so that, God willing, it will reach the production stage."
The Revolutionary Guard Corps had previously tried to take the initiative and present itself as the frontrunner in the fight against the coronavirus. One of the most high-profile of these initiatives was Hossein Salami's unveiling of a device called the "Musta'an Virus Detector," which not only was never proven to be effective, but was also ridiculed by social media users.
Source: Radio Farda
