TEHRAN – The rapid spread of the more-contagious UK variant of COVID-19 in Iran is a real concern, the country’s health officials have warned.

Deputy Health Minister Kianoush Jahanpour said on Tuesday that 17 cases of the mutated virus have so far been identified across the country.

Signs of the fourth wave of the disease have been seen in some provinces, he said, adding that the new wave is much more dangerous than the previous ones.

Meanwhile, Health Ministry’s spokeswomen Sima-Sadat Lari said the recent rise in the number of COVID-19 patients in Khuzestan province is ‘highly worrying’, adding that in the province of Ilam, Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad, Bushehr, Fars, Isfahan, and Semnan a rising trend in new cases is seen as well.

On Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani emphasized the necessity for people to follow health protocols, as a new wave of coronavirus may hit the country within the next two months.

Noting that facing such a great calamity was unprecedented during the century, he said that despite all the advances in medical knowledge, the outbreak of such a global pandemic was unpredictable to anyone.

Iran has taken the primary steps to develop and produce the COVID-19 vaccine and the country's experts are confident that the project will be finalized in March so that

Iran will begin mass vaccination with the domestically-produced vaccine, he stated.

MG