Omicron Spreads to Central, Eastern, Southern Areas in Iran

The Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that Omicron cases had spread to central, eastern and southern parts of the country as more infections were identified. 
So far, 15 cases of the Omicron variant were found in Tehran, five in Mashhad, five in Hormozgan, and two in Bushehr, ISNA reported. 
A total of 34 Omicron infections have been confirmed since early last week when the first case was identified in a middle-aged man living in the capital Tehran who had recently travelled to the United Arab Emirates. 
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus was reported to the World Health Organization a little over a month ago by South Africa. The variant has since spread to nearly 90 countries. 
According to WHO, the highly transmissible variant can double in every 1.5 to three days and it can soon replace Delta as the dominant variant around the world. 
Head of the Health Ministry’s Public Relations and Information Center, Mohammad Hashemi, urged the public to receive booster shots and follow protective rules to avoid a sixth wave. 
Over the past day, 619,000 more people were vaccinated against Covid-19, bringing the cumulative number of shots administered to 117.9 million. 
More than 59.6 million Iranians have been given a first shot and 51.5 million have been fully vaccinated against the respiratory illness. Some 6.7 million of those most at risk of contracting the coronavirus have also received a booster dose. 

Vaccination of Children

As the Omicron variant is fast spreading among children, increasing the rate of pediatric hospitalizations in some nations, the national Covid-19 science committee recommended the vaccination of kids between the ages of 5-11.
The committee’s secretary, Hamidreza Jamaati, said children between the ages of five to eleven would be eligible for vaccines if the National Coronavirus Headquarters approved the proposal. 
“Omicron is more present in young people, teenagers and children than the Delta variant. They can become the source of the next Covid peak,” he added.
Iran has ramped up vaccination rates to prevent another peak of the pandemic. Majority of the population have been immunized with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. 
On Tuesday, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that 700,000 shots of locally-produced AstraZeneca jabs were to be donated to Iran through COVAX. 
COVAX is a global vaccine sharing program that aims to secure access to Covid-19 vaccines for poor and mid-income countries. 
The new shipment takes the total number of jabs donated by Japan to 6.3 million