Over 100,000 nurses infected with COVID-19 in Iran, 120 died

TEHRAN, May 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 100,000 nurses have been infected with COVID-19 in Iran since the outbreak of the disease in February 2020, of whom 120 have died, Iran's Nursing Organization said on Tuesday.

In this March 26, 2020 file photo, Iranian army soldiers work in a temporary 2,000-bed hospital for coronavirus patients set up by the army at the International Exhibition Center in northern Tehran, Iran. Dozens of medical staffers have died of COVID-19 in Iran. Doctors and nurses and other staffers have been hard hit. (File photo: AP)

Chief of the organization Mohammad Mirzabeigi said that without the nurses' sacrifice for taking care of the patients, the crisis could not have been controlled in the country.

Soon after recovering from the virus, the nurses resume their duty, Mirzabeigi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

Referring to the shortage of nurses in Iran, he said that despite 53,000 employment permits for nurses in the past years, only 3,000 nurses have been employed.

He also urged the health authorities to immediately complete vaccination among nurses in the country.

Iran on Tuesday reportedly started mass production of its domestic COVID-19 vaccine, named COV-Iran Barekat.