Iran’s vaccine rollout marred by ‘favoritism’

Mar 9, 2021

When Iran’s vaccination officially kicked off with a televised, glamorous ceremony in Tehran Feb. 9, promises were made about a phased and fair distribution starting with hospital first responders and followed by senior citizens. Under such a scheme, hospitals were allocated their very specific rations.

However, a report by Mizan News Agency run by Iran’s judiciary says in some cases connections have served the basis and allowed for many to receive vaccines meant for others at the moment. “Uncles who were vaccinated without standing in the queue,” the sarcastic headline said of those instances in which the jabs for individuals who fail to show up or refuse to get them are given to others who enjoy connections to hospital managers.

In an interview with the agency, Hossein Kermanpour, the public relations chief for Iran’s Medical Council, said he could not rule out such a possibility. He referenced the fact that those vaccines need to be kept at special freezing temperatures and thus have to be given to others or otherwise thrown away if the designated individual does not receive them. Yet he described the reported discrimination as an example of mismanagement that could leave individuals who truly deserve the doses with no vaccine.

Those reports, however, have not come as a surprise in a country that has seen over 60,000 of its people perish due to the pandemic. Steadily keeping the title of the worst-hit nation in the Middle East since the outbreak of the virus, Iranians have been pressing their government to launch and speed up vaccination. Amid their desperation, they have also debated reports that vaccines are prioritized for officials in a system where corruption has long been a chronic malady.

After the outbreak of the pandemic in Iran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei went through a draconian set of personal protocols, turning all his typically crowded speech venues into empty halls. For over a year, Khamenei socially distanced himself from almost everyone and refused to receive even top government officials.