Tehran, Aug 26 : The Iranian health ministry reported Today  36,758 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country’s total infections to 4,833,135.
According to a briefing published by Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education on its official website, the pandemic has claimed 104,716 lives in the country so far, after 694 new deaths were registered in the past 24 hours.
A total of 4,053,022 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 7,788 remain in intensive care units, the ministry said on its official website.
By Thursday, 17,772,252 people have received at least a dose of coronavirus vaccine in the country, while 7,150,303 have taken two doses.
The official report adds that 28,330,070 tests have so far been carried out across the country.
In the afternoon, the first meeting of a newly created headquarters for the acceleration of COVID-19 vaccine imports was held in the seat of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the presence of Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and Health Minister Bahram Eynollahi.
“We are fully prepared to import approved vaccines with the cooperation of agencies and ministries, and we have no restrictions for this cooperation,” Eynollahi said after naming COVID-19 vaccination the ministry’s “main priority,” according to a report by state TV.
Iranian health officials have said that the reasons for the recent increase in infection rates since the end of June are the higher contagiousness of the Delta variant currently spreading in Iran, and a decline in people’s observance of health recommendations.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed as his first priority in government to control the COVID-19 pandemic and improve the health situation in the country.(UNI)