No Plan to Close Schools Despite Flu Epidemic 

The government has no current plans to close down schools to tackle the influenza epidemic, Health Minister Bahram Einollahi stated on Tuesday. 
“The government tries not to shutter schools because Covid was extremely detrimental to the country’s education system,” the health official was quoted as saying by IRNA. 
During the first two years of the Covid outbreak, Iran decided on closing schools to slow transmission, which deprived children of formal in-person learning and increased educational inequality. 
Einollahi nonetheless pointed out that schools could be ordered to close if flu rates became unmanageable. 
With seasonal flu killing thousands of people worldwide, countries import vaccine shots before the end of summer every year to stem the spread of the respiratory disease and prevent mortalities. 
“There is no shortage of influenza vaccines,” Einollahi said, adding that the administration had purchased and produced flu shots ahead of autumn in anticipation of the epidemic. 
He advised against students getting the flu shot, pointing to high immunity levels of children under the age of 18. 
He said, “Not everyone needs to get vaccinated against influenza.”
People with pre-existing health conditions, the elderly and pregnant women are among priority groups to receive vaccination against the infectious disease. 
Asked about shortages in the supply of antibiotics, the minister said that flu season had arrived almost 1.5 months earlier this year and demand for antibiotics skyrocketed in a short span of time, disrupting the usual order of the market.
“We have imported 50 tons of antibiotics from India and we will increase imports if there are shortages,” he said. 
Half of samples taken from patients exhibiting severe symptoms of the common cold test positive for influenza and thousands have been hospitalized over the past month. 
According to health experts, mask wearing and social distancing are two effective measures to curb the disease.