Health Minister Bahram Einollahi encouraged everyone over the age of 12 to receive a Covid-19 booster shot given the recent surge in active cases and hospitalizations.
“Our advice to the public, who have helped us tremendously, is to get a booster shot if they are older than 12,” the minister was quoted as saying by IRNA on the sideline of Wednesday’s weekly Cabinet meeting.
The Health Ministry registered a triple surge in outpatient visits and hospitalizations over the past week and the number of daily infections exceeded the 1,000 mark this week for the first time since April.
As to why the government was relaunching the national vaccination campaign, Einollahi said, “We have the return of hajj pilgrims, reopening of schools and universities and the mourning of Muharram ahead of us.”
All events named by the minister ensure public gatherings in enclosed spaces right when two vaccine-evading subvariants of the highly contagious Omicron, the BA.4 and BA.5, are circulating throughout the country.
Pointing out that vaccination was carried out in Iran in a short period, producing high levels of immunity among the general public, Einollahi noted that the effects could be waning.
“Certain mutations have occurred in Omicron, it is now causing disease at a faster rate,” the health official added.
It is not still clear whether the new subvariants can cause more severe disease but new mutations have enabled them to evade antibodies produced by coronavirus vaccines.