Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for immediate measures to be taken to confront the current wave of the Corona epidemic, and while the virus is returning to spread rapidly in the United States and other countries, Russia has revealed an evaluation of the effectiveness of the “Sputnik-V” vaccine against the “Delta” mutant.
In a speech broadcast on Iranian television, today, Wednesday, Khamenei called for immediate and serious decisions to be taken to confront this virus, after the high number of deaths and infections with the Corona virus in Iran.
He said that the urgent priority in Iran has become the issue of Corona and confronting this virus in the country.
The Iranian guide presented a set of directions and instructions to officials and citizens to confront the virus during the coming period.
Khamenei's statements come at a time when the country is recording large numbers of injuries, which recently approached 40,000, and a few days ago it recorded a record death toll of more than 500 deaths in one day.
The vaccination campaign against the Corona virus in Iran is also slowing down, as only 3 million people out of 80 million have been vaccinated, and Tehran has contracted with Russia for 60 million doses of the “Sputnik V” vaccine, but it has so far received only one million doses.
The company that developed the “Sputnik V” vaccine previously said that it is 90% effective against the Delta mutant (Reuters)
The effectiveness of the Sputnik vaccine
In Russia, Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko announced today that the “Sputnik V” vaccine is 83% effective in resisting the mutated “Delta” strain of the Corona virus, which is less than previous expectations.
The company that developed the vaccine said last June that it is about 90% effective in preventing the same mutation.
For his part, the director of the "Gamalia" Institute, which developed the "Sputnik V" vaccine, said in an interview with the newspaper "Izvestia" that this vaccine is safe and effective in resisting all strains of the Corona virus.
The new evaluation of the effectiveness of the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine comes at a time when the country is witnessing a significant increase in infections and deaths, amid an outbreak of the delta mutant, and the Russians’ lack of great enthusiasm for vaccination against the Corona virus.
In the past 24 hours, Russia recorded 799 deaths related to the Corona virus, the highest daily toll for the fourth time in a month, and the authorities counted more than 21,000 new cases of the virus.
The controversy of masks in America
In the United States, the outbreak of the Corona epidemic again due to the spread of the mutant delta has once again sparked a political debate about the wearing of the muzzle.
The governors of some states have announced their opposition to any measure to make the muzzle mandatory, despite the recommendations of the health authorities.
Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis banned schools in his state from forcing students to wear a muzzle, and said that parents decide this, and President Joe Biden responded by accusing governors who adopt such a position of hypocrisy.
And last May, vaccinated Americans were able to get rid of the muzzle after health officials considered that they could remove it safely, and later the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that this recommendation would also be applied in classes at the beginning of the school year for vaccinated boys, but the outbreak The mutated Delta has revived the controversy over the muzzle.
In the past few days, the United States recorded large numbers of infections with the Corona virus, at a rate of nearly 100,000, and the epidemic is currently spreading especially in the southeast of the country, especially in the states that are less vaccinated.
Curfew and closure
In Greece, the tourist city of Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete is subject to a night curfew starting this evening for a week in an effort to stop the spread of the Corona virus, while the mutated Delta recorded a rapid outbreak in the past days in Greece, according to the authorities.
In the past 24 hours, Greece counted more than 4 thousand new cases of the virus and 19 new deaths.
In turn, Germany today recorded about 5,000 new cases of the virus and 14 additional deaths.
In Australia, the closure of 5 million people in Melbourne was extended for at least an additional week in light of the renewed spread of the Corona epidemic.
In Asia, Malaysia today recorded about 21,000 new cases of the virus, the second-highest number of infections recorded in the country.
Today, India recorded about 35,000 new infections, bringing the total to more than 32 million.
In China, the strictest social restrictions imposed by the authorities to combat the latest wave of the Corona virus, which has now entered its fourth week and has spread to more than 10 cities, has begun to negatively affect the service sector, especially travel and hospitality.
In Latin America, Brazil recorded about 35,000 new infections and more than 1,200 additional deaths, knowing that the number of HIV infections exceeded 20 million.
Globally, the number of HIV infections approached 205 million, and the deaths exceeded 4 million and 330 thousand, while the number of people recovered exceeded 184 million, according to the latest statistics published by the "World Meter" website.