Seventh Covid Wave Sweeps Iran 

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi on Saturday announced that Iran had entered the seventh wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and encouraged the public to administer booster shots as soon as possible. 
“We’re at the start of the seventh wave because we’ve witnessed a rise in infections and hospitalizations in the past two weeks,” the minister was quoted as saying by ISNA. 
Pointing out that 13 people had died from the disease a day earlier, he added, “In these circumstances, it is not unexpected to see an increase in mortalities.”
New subvariants of the highly contagious Omicron are circulating across the country, placing over 50 cities on red and orange alert as they easily spread from one person to another, a new update by the Health Ministry showed. 
The codes red and orange point to extremely high-risk and high-risk zones, respectively.  
The escape variants, named BA.4 and BA.5, can evade the antibody response produced by vaccination or prior infection. 
“We’re between weeks two and three of the seventh wave,” Einollahi said and expressed hope that completing vaccination and following health protocols could reduce the daily death rate. 
On Saturday, the Health Ministry logged nine new fatalities and 2,700 newly identified cases of the coronavirus, a dramatic rise compared to two months ago when the pandemic had subsided. 
More than 64 million Iranians have been administered the first dose of a Covid vaccine, some 58 million have received both shots and over 28.3 million have been given a booster dose. 
The government has made anyone over the age of 18 eligible to get a fourth shot to further increase immunity in the population of 85 million Iranians. 
Around 20% of the eligible population have refused to get inoculated against the contagion. 
Einollahi stated, “We’re hopeful that if people get vaccinated, the number of fatalities will remain at two-digit figures.”

Upward Trend 

Infection rates will keep rising for at least another month, head of Covid operations in Tehran Province, Alireza Zali, said on Saturday. 
“Covid screening has declined not only in Tehran, but also in other cities,” he added, noting that the drop in testing could falsely reduce the number of actual active cases. 
According to the health expert, anyone who visits medical centers complaining of body pain and sore throat is considered to have contracted the virus. 
“Some people might get infected despite vaccination, but inoculation is highly effective in reducing death rates,” Zali said. 
Hospitals throughout the country have been placed on alert and vaccination centers have been reactivated to speed the immunization campaign. 
Zali noted that the return of hajis from Saudi Arabia, along with other religious ceremonies, can result in another surge over the coming month. 
Experts have warned that public gatherings in enclosed spaces and the reopening of schools and universities in September can become contributing factors to the increase in cases. 
Over 566.6 million people have contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic around the world and 6.38 million have lost their lives to it.