TEHRAN – Persons with disabilities and the elderly in 311 daycare centers received influenza vaccines on Friday, the deputy head of the Welfare Organization for rehabilitation has announced.

“Vaccination against the flu has started in the centers covered by the Welfare Organization, especially the elderly,” Mohammad Nafrieh stated, adding, in fact, vaccination will be performed in 311 centers that offer services to 13,896 elderlies.

In other centers, which take care of the persons with a mental or physical disability on a 24-hour basis, as well as other vulnerable people, will receive influenza vaccination, he noted.

Vahid Qobadi Dana the head of the Organization said a week earlier that influenza vaccines have been provided free of charge to some 80,000 people under the Organization’s coverage.

The Ministry of Health is implementing a national plan aiming to provide two million doses of influenza vaccines for at-risk groups such as the elderly, transplant patients, cardiopulmonary patients, and pregnant women to reduce COVID-19 effects.

According to the national plan on influenza vaccination, the distribution of vaccines is the responsibility of the University of Medical Sciences in different provinces.

He went on to note that up to 80,000 people who are in welfare organization’s care centers are eligible to receive free vaccines.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the observance of health protocols such as social distancing, personal hygiene, disinfection of hands, and use of masks, the flu infection will be much lower than the previous years. Therefore, vaccination is not necessary for the whole population, Mohammad Reza Shanehsaz, head of the Food and Drug Administration, said.

COVID-19 toll reaches over 26,000

In the press briefing on Friday, Health Ministry spokesperson Sima-Sadat Lari confirmed 3,552 new cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total number of infections to 464,596. She added that 385,264 patients have so far recovered, but 4,137 still remain in critical conditions of the disease.

In the past 24 hours, 187 patients have lost their lives, bringing the total number of deaths to 26,567, she added.

Lari noted that so far 4,067,861 COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country.

She said the high-risk “red” zones include provinces of Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, East Azarbaijan, South Khorasan, Semnan, Qazvin, Lorestan, Ardebil, Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Gilan, Bushehr, Zanjan, Ilam, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Alborz, West Azarbaijan, Markazi, Kerman, North Khorasan, Hamedan, and Yazd.

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