Covid-19 Deaths Top 300 in Iran

Coronavirus infections and deaths continued to climb on Wednesday, as overnight fatalities crossed the 300 mark for the first time since December and confirmed cases hit an all-time record of 25,000.
Wednesday’s tally pushed the total number of infections to 2.143 million and deaths to 65,360, ISNA reported.
Hospitals are under immense strain as the fourth wave of the pandemic takes its toll on the country’s healthcare system. 
According to Deputy Health Minister Qasem Janbabaei, hospitalizations have experienced a fourfold spike compared to the third wave.
“The disease’s transmission rates have increased by two to three times, that’s the reason for the rise in infections,” Janbabaei said.
Over 290 cities in Iran are on red alert and 99 have been color-coded orange, signifying very high-risk and high-risk areas in the country.

Vaccination Drive

Iran will conclude the first phase of the national vaccination campaign by early May by inoculating nearly 1.3 million people against the viral infection, spokesman of the National Coronavirus Headquarters, Alireza Raeisi, said.
“The first phase of the program includes the immunization of healthcare personnel, disabled veterans and the elderly with severe underlying health conditions,” he added.
The Health Ministry announced on Wednesday that they have administered 462,600 vaccines doses since the start of the national inoculation program.
Some 100,000 have received both shots of the vaccine and 361,000 have been injected with the first dose, the Health Ministry said.
Raeisi explained that roughly 400,000 jabs have been donated by China, which will end the first phase of the vaccination program, allowing us to begin the second phase and vaccinate other groups.
Iran has recently received 700,000 shots of AstraZeneca under COVAX, a global initiative attempting to secure fair distribution of Covid vaccines. Combined with the delivery of the next vaccine shipment from China, Iran will have enough jabs to vaccinate its top priority groups by early May.
In the second phase of the inoculation drive, high-risk groups, including people above 60 and those between the ages of 16-64 with serious health conditions, will be vaccinated.
Phase three will include individuals working in crowded environments and finally, in the fourth phase, all Iranians will be eligible to receive the vaccine.
The national vaccination campaign is expected to pick up pace by the end of spring when homegrown vaccines become available.
President Hassan Rouhani in remarks on Wednesday said it is the government’s “duty” to import vaccines until one of Iran’s local vaccines becomes available.
Worldwide Covid-19 cases rose to 138.1 million on Wednesday, as fatalities reached 2.97 million.