Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
Iranwire.com – The question of acquiring a coronavirus vaccine continued to dominate the news on Wednesday, December 23. Iranian officials continued to make promises without mentioning any specifics, and the hashtag #Buy_the_Vaccine continues to trend on social media.
“Despite all the pressures and difficulties, we will buy the vaccine from the best and most trustworthy sources in the world,” said Health Minister Saeed Namaki. “Nowhere in the world have they begun inoculations hastily and, if they did, it was not wise.”
Mahmoud Vaezi, President Rouhani’s chief of staff, yet again blamed US sanctions for the delay in purchasing vaccines. “The fundamental problem we always have in acquiring medicine, vaccines and essential goods is sanctions and excessive pressure by the US,” he said. “The Americans publicly say that there are no restriction on buying medicines and vaccines but in practice when we want to buy them, they contact various banks and even prevented the payment of $5 billion [to Iran] by the International Monetary Fund to purchase essential goods and medicine.”
In recent weeks Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly said US sanctions are preventing Iran from buying a coronavirus vaccine. On December 22, 29 human rights organizations issued a statement, calling for “equitable access” of Iranians to Covid-19 vaccines. “We particularly call on the government of the United States to provide assurances to financial institutions that they will not be subject to US sanctions for facilitating transfers of Iranian currency for the purpose of purchasing vaccine,” said the statement. “We urge the Iranian government to use funds, distribute vaccines, and fight the pandemic in an equitable and transparent manner, in line with recognized due diligence standards.
“US sanctions on Iran appear to be already impeding the transfer of funds to the COVAX Facility, the effort of the World Health Organization and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, to manage global vaccine distribution. The head of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, reported on social media that the banks in South Korea that hold Iranian frozen assets have refused to guarantee the transfer of funds to COVAX for fear that such funds will be seized by the United States. According to a report by Reuters, South Korea’s foreign ministry expressed a similar need for specific US approval with regard to transfers to the Swiss-managed humanitarian channel with Iran.”
No Cases of Coronavirus Variant Found in Iran
When the United Kingdom announced a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus is surging through parts of England, Iran immediately banned flights to and from the UK. “No cases of the new virus have so far been found in the country, but we are still investigating and will announce if any case is identified,” said Health Minister Saeed Namaki. All travelers who have entered the country from the UK in the last two or three weeks are being monitored individually, said Namaki.
In the last week Dr. Minoo Moharez, the lead epidemiologist in the development of an Iranian vaccine and a member of National Coronavirus Taskforce’s Scientific Committee, has speculated that the new variant might have been responsible for the surge in the number of fatalities in Iran over the course of October-November.
Provinces Round-up
In the past 24 hours Qazvin was spared any coronavirus deaths, reported Qazvin University of Medical Sciences. In the same time period 76 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed, 47 of these patients were hospitalized and 37 patients were discharged from hospitals. Currently, 288 patients are hospitalized across the province of whom 31 are breathing with the help of ventilators.
Currently 175 confirmed cases of Covid-19 are hospitalized in Kurdistan, most of them in the provincial capital of Sanandaj with 87 hospitalizations. Of this number 46 are being treated at ICUs. The death toll in Kurdistan now stands at 1,097 but in the past 24 hours there were no Covid-19 fatalities in the province.
According to statistics issued by Alborz University of Medical Sciences, in the past 24 hours 40 new patients with Covid-19 symptoms were hospitalized in Alborz, bringing the total of hospitalized suspected or confirmed coronavirus patients in the province to 395. In the same time period 10 other patients lost their lives to Covid-19 and the official death toll in the province, a neighbor of Tehran, now stands at 2,533.
In the past 24 hours in Zanjan five more people lost their lives to Covid-19, bringing the known death toll in the province to 1,077. According to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, in the past 24 hours 16 new Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital in the province and 241 patients are now in hospital.
Currently 520 Covid-19 patients are hospitalized in Gilan, including around 100 new ones. Of this number, 100 are in a critical condition and being treated at ICUs.
Iran’s Latest Coronavirus Statistics
In her daily briefing for December 23, health ministry spokeswoman Dr. Sima Sadat Lari announced the official coronavirus statistics for the past 24 hours:
Dr. Lari reported that currently no Iranian city is on the red alert, 205 cities are in an orange state of alert and 243 are yellow. She said that despite the general decline in the number of coronavirus infections and fatalities, the situation in some cities like Bandar Gaz in Golestan, Rezvan Shahr in Gilan and the cities of Ramsar and Noshahr in Mazandaran is still unstable.
