We, the undersigned, ask that you consider donating surplus vaccines from Canada to Iran, a country currently undergoing one of the worst COVID crises in the world.
Due to harsh economic sanctions against Iran and a slow vaccine rollout, this country is now experiencing its fifth and worst wave of COVID-19 infections. Led by variants, the pandemic is currently claiming almost 500 lives daily in a country of 80 million. This is over 25 times the per capita death rate in Canada (CBC News, 2021.08.10), and 4 times the per capita rate in the US (NY Times, 2021.08.10). It is estimated that every two minutes a person in Iran dies as a direct result of a COVID-19 infection.
Currently less than 4% of people in Iran are fully vaccinated against this horrific disease. There is presently a shortage of vaccines, hospital beds, Oxygen tanks, medicines, and even intravenous fluids.
Shipping extra supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Iran will no doubt have a significant effect in slowing down death rate and morbidity of COVID-19 in that country and in the rest of the world. The world will not forget helping hands in overcoming the humanitarian crisis of our times.