No Significant Rise in Omicron Cases Since Emergence of Variant in Iran

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi announced on Sunday that there has been no substantial rise in cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus since it was first identified in the capital Tehran. 
“Right now, it’s been 20 days since the first case and it has not increased in this duration,” the minister was quoted as saying by IRNA. 
Iran reported its first case of Omicron nearly twenty days ago in a resident of Tehran with a recent travel history to the United Arab Emirates. 
The variant, formally known as B.1.1.529, has so far been detected in 159 patients, head of the Health Ministry’s Public Relations and Information Center, Mohammad Hashemi, said. 
At least 45 of the patients infected with Omicron live in the southern province of Hormozgan, 35 in eastern Mashhad and 28 in Tehran, Hashemi’s tweet said. 
Einollahi noted that his ministry has distributed 20,000 diagnostic kits throughout the country, “All hospitals are on full alert.”
Omicron was reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa in late November. It has since caused a spike in cases in the United States and European nations. 
According to Einollahi, high vaccination coverage rates have contributed to the stable circumstances. 

Vaccinations Cross 120m

Vaccine doses administered by Iran’s Health Ministry crossed the 120 million mark on Sunday and 11 months since the start of the immunization campaign. 
More than 59.8 million people have received a first dose, 52 million have been fully vaccinated and over eight million Iranians have been given a booster shot. 
Secretary of the national Covid-19 science committee, Hamid Reza Jamaati, said on Sunday that he did not expect a surge in cases since transmission had been slower in Iran compared to other countries.
“This is because of the short time that has passed since the injection of the second shot,” Jamaati added. 
He called for the vaccination of children between the ages of 5-11 as Omicron is fast spreading among younger people.
The Health Ministry said on Sunday that over the past 24 hours, 41 coronavirus patients had died from the disease, bringing the death toll to 131,680. 
Test results of 1,510 patients came back positive on the same day, taking the total number of cases to 6.196 million. 
Iran is giving out booster shots to those most vulnerable to the contagion to curb the outbreak. It has also imposed a travel ban on non-vaccinated individuals.