Iran’s President described it necessary to avoid gatherings and strictly follow health protocols in the process of fighting COVID-19 in the country, and expressed satisfaction with the 80% decrease in the number of hospitalizations and 70% decrease in the death rate.
Speaking on Saturday at the meeting of the National Task Force Against Coronavirus, President Hassan Rouhani said, "We are announcing the status of the yellow zones where the number of positive patients are 2 per 100,000 people as blue zones, and all businesses in these areas will operate”.
At the same time, the President called for the stabilisation of the current situation and preventive measures to prevent the fourth wave of the disease, and said, "It is important to observe a series of protocols to maintain this situation”.
Stating that avoiding gatherings and strictly following health protocols are essential in fighting COVID-19, Dr. Rouhani said, "If we have to place strict restrictions once again, it will naturally make problems for many people and businesses and I hope that all people help so that we do not have to do so”.
He continued, "Despite the wild spread of coronavirus in some parts of the world, the trend in Iran has been declining with the implementation of protocols and observance of health protocols by the people”.
Referring to people’s right to be vaccinated, he also said that quick access to the vaccine and obtaining it is one of the serious demands of the people, and added, "The government has taken all the necessary measures to produce a vaccine domestically and to buy a safe foreign vaccine”.
“Due to the problems caused by the cruel and illegal sanctions, we were busy transferring money for supplying foreign vaccines for one month to 40 days,” he said.
The President also referred to the vaccination document, and said, "Vaccination document of 60 million people has been prepared in 4 phases with specific priorities”.
Stating that, "We will not put people to the test of foreign vaccines,” the President said, "The Ministry of Health did not accept the foreign vaccine and did not let people to be tested by the companies, and I assure people that this has never happened and will not happen”.
“Of course, people should bear this in mind that even when the vaccine arrives and the vaccination is done, it does not mean permission to abandon health protocols, and all protocols, including using masks and observing physical distancing, must be done for at least several months later," he said.
