1st Covid Vaccines to Arrive Soon

EghtesadOnline: Health Minister Saeed Namaki on Sunday announced that the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Iran in a matter of days.

News ID: ۷۸۵۸۳۴

25 January 2021

“We will import the first shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from credible sources in the coming days,” Namaki was quoted as saying by ISNA.

The minister did not name the vaccine that will be received by the population.

According to Namaki, the most vulnerable individuals will be prioritized to receive the injection.

Pointing to the surge in travels over the past week, the health minister warned, “If a new wave hits, it will cause suffering beyond what we experienced during the previous three waves.”

Inter-provincial travel from January 12 to 21 increased by 7% compared to the same period of last year, as the government lifted restrictions on travel after months of banning private cars from leaving or entering regions with high transmission rates.

Iran reported as many as 500 overnight fatalities during the peak of the third wave of infections. With the number falling under 100, the government eased restrictive measures to breathe life into its battered economy.

“Some 5,945 contracted the disease within one day, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 1.372 million,” the spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Sima Sadat Lari, said.

“Over the past 24 hours, 89 Covid-19 patients lost their lives and the national death toll reached 57,380.”

Lari said that over 1.16 million people have recovered from the viral infection and 4,090 are in critical condition.

“Iran has administered nearly 8.9 million diagnostic tests since the virus was first identified in the country,” she said.

More than 99.4 million have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past year and 2.13 million have died.