TEHRAN -- Iran’s health ministry is pushing a door-to-door vaccination campaign to immunize more Iranians against the coronavirus.
Health minister Bahram Einollahi said health workers will be dispatched to various parts of the country to deliver vaccines to the arms of people who have missed invitations to come to government-run vaccination facilities.
“We are planning to launch the door-to-door campaign to catch up on missed vaccinations,” said Einollahi, adding that the campaign would ensure the quality and integrity of Iran’s vaccination drive against the coronavirus.
The comments come as Iran is racing against the time to complete a COVID inoculation program that got off to a very slow start in December.
The number of vaccine doses offered to Iranians reached around 44 million on Sunday, nearly four times the figures reported in early August when a new administrative government took office to appoint Einollahi as new health minister.
Einollahi said vaccinations could exceed a record of eight million doses offered per week.
Iran reopened museums in Tehran and other cities Sunday after a more than year-long closure because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Iran’s museums attracted more than 21 million visitors in the year before the outbreak of COVID-19 that forced museums to close in May 2020.
Iran has confirmed more than 5.4 million cases of coronavirus, including 117,000 deaths, according to figures issued by the health ministry.
Out of a population of 83 million, about 30 million Iranians have received a first dose of vaccination and almost 14 million have been fully vaccinated against the virus.