{"id":244855,"date":"2021-08-14T02:07:22","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T07:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=244855"},"modified":"2023-01-31T12:00:20","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T11:00:20","slug":"iran-effects-of-khameneis-vaccine-ban-still-worsening-eight-months-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-effects-of-khameneis-vaccine-ban-still-worsening-eight-months-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Effects of Khamenei\u2019s Vaccine Ban Still Worsening, Eight Months Later"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On January 9, the Iranian regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that he was banning the import of American and British-made vaccines for Covid-19. His edict resulted in the immediate cancellation of the planned delivery of at least 100,000 doses whch were set to be donated by philanthropists in the US. While this number represents only a drop in the bucket compared to what the country of 83 million people requires, it would have kick-started Iran\u2019s vaccination program long before locally made alternatives became available.
\nEven now, those alternatives demonstrate much lower efficacy than the vaccines Khamenei rejected, and there has been much less research into their safety and the longevity of their effects. The same is true of the Chinese and Russian doses that Iran has begun importing, neither of which have arrived in quantities anywhere near as large as originally promised. Making matters worse, the availability of all vaccines \u2013 including those that have been imported illegally \u2013 is constrained by the actions of private companies that have been entrusted with their distribution.<\/p>\n

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This arrangement, another policy spearheaded by the regime\u2019s Supreme Leader Khamenei, has served to further enrich a number of entities that are affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. That hardline paramilitary, much like Khamenei himself, controls hundreds of billions of dollars in Iranian assets and overwhelmingly directs them toward pet projects, or channels them directly back into its own coffers. Thanks to the IRGC\u2019s influence over vaccine distribution, there have been numerous reports of doses appearing on Iran\u2019s black market with outrageous price tags, affordable only to the power elite in a country where the vast majority of the civilian population now lives below the poverty line.<\/p>\n

Not only does the IRGC benefit directly from sales of vaccines, but its black market economy also helps to make sure that crises like the coronavirus pandemic have a much greater impact, over a much longer period of time, on ordinary Iranians while quickly passing over persons with close ties to the paramilitary.<\/p>\n

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\nIt is easy to conclude from such developments that Iran\u2019s \u201csixth wave\u201d of coronavirus infections will not be coming to an end anytime soon. Whenever it does end, the resulting circumstances are unlikely to prevent the eventual arrival of a seventh. On Tuesday, Iranian regime\u2019s Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi predicted that the \u201cinfection and death toll will continue to rise exponentially\u201d for the foreseeable future, and that the lack of access to vaccines is a key reason why.
\nThe regime\u2019s vaccination program, has reached less than three percent of the Iranian population since Khamenei announced his intention to prioritize domestic drug production. The pace of vaccinations has not noticeably increased for weeks, and as a result the pace of new infections and fatalities has spiraled completely out of control. At the start of this week, Iran recorded a new record high for daily Covid-19 deaths, with 588 being recorded over a 24-hour period. During the same period, 40,808 new infections were recorded, though of course this only includes persons who have been officially tested, and most likely does not include all of them.
\nThe People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran<\/a> (PMOI\/MEK<\/a>), maintains an extensive intelligence network inside Iran, which has been collecting hospital records, leaked government documents, and eyewitness statements to prepare its own regular reports on the impact of Covid-19 among Iranians.<\/p>\n

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"They took my husband away from me because they didn't let us get coronavirus vaccines," says this grieving widow.#Iran<\/a> #COVID19<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/BzlSJ2J3zH<\/a><\/p>\n

— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 12, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n