How did COVID shape preparations for Iran’s presidential election? Coronavirus pandemic News

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s presidential election is scheduled to take place on Friday as the country continues to struggle with the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Iran, with the deadliest appearances In the Middle East, it has reported more than three million cases, including 82,000 deaths.

The fourth wave of infection he complained Soon tens of millions of Iranians allowed home trips to Newruz for the New Year holidays in late March and new strains of the virus entered the country.

Although daily cases have been reduced by about a third of the peak, more than 100 deaths are still reported in the spread of the vaccine, which has been criticized for being too slow every day.

Presidential elections – as well as city and town council ballots, parliament and the Assembly of Experts – are expected to be low turnout due to public disillusionment and widespread disqualification of reformist and moderate candidates, as well as the pandemic.

COVID has had a significant impact on how the electoral cycle landscape has been shaped.

According to the health protocols of the national headquarters against coronavirus, election meetings and talks can only be held in outdoor spaces in stadiums and schools, if there are eight square meters per person, the premises have a capacity of 30 percent and masks are mandatory and the event ends in two hours.

Internal gatherings were limited to 15 people in cities classified as red in the color category, which indicated the severity of the occurrences, with a limit of 20 for “orange” and 30 for “yellow”.

But those protocols have already been broken because open-air meetings for several candidates did not meet the requirements for physical separation.

Pioneer Ebrahim Raisi held a large rally last week in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, with thousands piled together and with images showing some not wearing masks.

When asked, Raisi said he had obtained permission and while the national coronavirus headquarters said the incident violated health protocols, no sanctions were imposed.

For Friday’s polls, Iran’s Interior Ministry has increased the number of polls across the country and votes should be placed in outdoor spaces to avoid crowding as much as possible and to encourage voting.

The ICT ministry has also released an app that will help voters find a crowded polling station. Voting is set to begin at 7 a.m. and can be extended until 2:00 a.m. Saturday, with final results expected by noon.

The night-time toque limit for vehicles has been in effect for months, but will be suspended on Friday and Saturday to drive people to the polls. Inter-provincial travel will be banned on Friday.

Vaccinate

Elections are being held as the spread of the coronavirus vaccine is still delayed as the country shuts down mass production of locally developed jabs.

About 4.5 million Iranians, just over five percent of the population, have received at least one dose of vaccines imported from Russia, China, India and the global COVAX initiative.

Officials expect millions of doses to be imported before the end of the year, but are mostly engaged in local production to incorporate the country’s 83 million strong population.

COVIran Barekat, the first locally developed vaccine in the country, received a local emergency permit a few months earlier this week subjected to human trials.

Officials at Setad, a strong leader of top leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who is overseeing production, have said it will now be able to manufacture three million jabs and increase production to 11 million doses per month in the future.

The vaccine, developed by the Razi COV-Pars, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, is being tested by humans and is expected to receive emergency use soon.

Third vaccine – Developed by an organization under the Ministry of Defense Called Fakhravac Mohsen Fakhrizadeh pays homage to the dead nuclear scientist – he is also undergoing human trials.

These are complementary to the vaccine developed by the Pasteur Institute of Iran in cooperation with Cuba, which is undergoing the third phase of human trafficking in Iran and is also expected to be spread in large quantities.