Covid Deaths in 24 Hours Set New Record of 684

On Sunday, Iran reported 684 deaths caused by the coronavirus, its highest single-day toll since the start of the outbreak amid the relentless spread of the Delta variant. 
The new fatalities, up by 29 from the previous record, took the national toll to over 102,000, ISNA reported. 
Despite the ongoing crisis, data collected by the Health Ministry showed a significant drop in adherence to protocols designed to cut transmission rates. 
Head of Covid-19 Operations in Tehran, Alireza Zali, said on Sunday that the whole of the country was still going through a Covid crisis. 
“Vaccination is necessary to curb the disease, but it’s not enough,” he said, adding that following safety measures was a must. 
Over the past 24 hours, over 540,000 shots of Covid vaccines were administered across the country, bringing the total number of doses given to 22.5 million. 
So far, 16.7 million people have received a first shot and 5.8 million have been fully vaccinated. 
On Sunday morning, the Iranian Red Crescent Society imported its 16th batch of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine containing 1.110 million jabs and delivered it to the Health Ministry for distribution.
“The Red Crescent Society will continue to import vaccines two times a week,” chairman of the organization, Karim Hemmati, said. 
The Health Ministry lowered vaccine eligibility age to 50 on Sunday and it is also vaccinating those suffering from pre-existing conditions and working at high-risk jobs to reduce the death rate.

Pfizer, Moderna on Agenda

Iran is negotiating with two unnamed European nations to import the highly effective Covid vaccines Pfizer and Moderna, spokesman for the National Coronavirus Headquarters, Alireza Raeisi, said on Saturday night.
“We’re in talks with one or two European countries to get Pfizer and Moderna jabs, we’ll definitely import them if it goes well,” he noted.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is 100% effective in preventing severe symptoms. Moderna Inc announced early August that its vaccine remained 93% effective six months after second shot. 
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has banned the entry of Covid vaccines manufactured by the United States or Britain, but he recently allowed imports if the jabs were produced outside US and Britain’s soil.
According to Raeisi, 30 million shots of various Covid vaccines will arrive into the country by the end of summer. 
He said, “If we get our hands on 60 million jabs by late October, we can inoculate everyone over the age of 30.”