Covid-19 claims 182 more lives in Iran

The Iranian Health Ministry said on Thursday that the latest deaths took the total number of fatalities from Covid-19 to 134,238.

It said over 17,500 more people had contracted the disease over the past 24 hours.

On Wednesday, the country reported 185 deaths and over 16,000 new infection cases.

A new highly transmissible strain of the coronavirus known as Omicron has pushed up the number of fatalities and infections in recent weeks despite Iran having administered over 138 million doses of vaccine with nearly 55 million people fully vaccinated.

Nearly 22 million people have received their booster shots with health authorities still urging people to get their third jabs as soon as possible.

Iran is also racing to immunize children against the respiratory disease.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said on Thursday that 90 percent of children in the 12-18 age group have received a vaccine shot.

He pointed out that 20% of those who contract the new variant are children, urging parents to have their children vaccinated as soon as possible.

Einollahi also warned that the sixth wave is expected to reach its peak in the coming weeks urging people to observe health protocols more carefully.