Iran Identifies 1st Case of Omicron Variant of COVID-19

Iran has identified its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The health ministry confirmed the case of the variant on Sunday to state TV. The infection was discovered in a middle-aged Iranian man who had recently travelled back from the United Arab Emirates. There are two other cases believed to be the variant that are currently being monitored.

More than 60% of eligible Iranian citizens, or about 50 million people, are vaccinated with two doses of a vaccine against the coronavirus, and most currently are eligible for a third shot, which already have been received by 3.5 million people. Still, Iran has had more than 6.1 million COVID-19 cases, including over 131,000 deaths.

Iran uses China’s Sinopharm vaccine as well as Russia’s Sputnik V and the AstraZeneca vaccines.