Iran's Health Minister: No case of Omicron coronavirus strain has been identified in the country yet

Iran's Health Minister says no cases of the "Omicron" strain of coronavirus have been identified in the country yet.

Bahram Einollahi added on Sunday, December 27: "The issue that worries the world is that the new strain is vaccine-resistant: Some countries have banned entry from infected countries, and we are also monitoring the virus."

Following the report of the discovery of the Omicron strain, which is said to have originated in South Africa, some countries, including European countries, the United States, and Iran, have restricted flights from South Africa. Some European countries, Israel, and Russia have also confirmed the arrival of the new strain of coronavirus in their countries.

Iran banned flights from six African countries on Saturday.

The Iranian Minister of Health also stated that it is not yet known whether existing coronavirus vaccines will have any effect on the new strain, urging those who have not yet been vaccinated to act quickly and those who have received two doses of the vaccine to receive a booster dose.

Iran was one of the first countries to be severely affected by the coronavirus two years ago, with the start of the global pandemic. Given the ban on the import of vaccines made in the United States and Britain by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, as well as the government's hesitation in importing the vaccine in the hope of producing it domestically, this summer it faced the largest wave of the coronavirus outbreak.

Iran has increased its imports of coronavirus vaccines in recent months, and now more than 53% of the Iranian population has received two doses of the coronavirus vaccine, and the number of daily infections and deaths has also decreased significantly.

Source: Radio Farda