Presidency: Herd immunity should be achieved by mid-summer

As Simonas Krėpšta, the president’s senior adviser on economic and social policy, said after meeting with experts, the statistics of the pandemic in Lithuania are improving.

“We are seeing more and more positive signs and those timid perceptions that were seen two weeks ago have been confirmed. The peak of the second wave was reached at the beginning of the year and the situation is currently moving in a positive direction, ”said S. Krėpšta.

Head of the President According to the counselor, the EU must have a clear objective by which herd immunity can be achieved.

“It makes sense, in the president’s view, to set a specific realistic, but ambitious goal, whereby we can get vaccines that reach around 70 percent of society, since the quarantine restrictions are temporary measures. The real strategy to overcome this pandemic is social, collective immunity, and it can only be achieved with a vaccine and in sufficient quantities, ”said the head of G. Nausėda, tutor.

According to S. Krėpšta, the president will discuss this with EU leaders on Thursday.

“According to the president, the goal of having enough vaccines can be set by mid-summer. This requires about 70 percent. Society to get vaccinated. Lithuania should vaccinate about 2 million. People – they have about 4 million. Vaccinations.” S. Krėpšta said.

Requirements for schools and kindergartens must be exempted first

According to him, the presidency agrees that the requirements for socially vulnerable kindergartens, schools and families should be made known first, when the epidemiological situation allows.

“We agree with the steps and ideas that schools, kindergartens and socially vulnerable families are the places to be vacated first, when the situation improves, when the epidemiological situation allows,” said S. Krėpšta.

He stressed that given the positive signs, it is important not to return to the situation that existed at the end of December.

“We broadly agree with the proposed expert scenarios, which state that certain steps to reduce operating restrictions can be considered under certain conditions. Those scenarios were presented, were presented by government experts and were also mentioned during this meeting,” said the presidential advisor.

“Of course, we need to assess the context in which we are seeing new strains of the virus that are perhaps more dangerous and spread faster,” added S. Krėpšta.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said Monday that the sudden changes in quarantine restrictions cannot yet be discussed.

“We cannot discuss sudden changes or cancellations when the situation is so fragile. I would not want to simply damage the good dynamics and not be forced to return to the quarantine that was,” I. Šimonytė said at the government meeting on Monday.

Welcomes expert scenarios for restriction liberalization

When asked whether restrictions on movement between municipalities should be relaxed, S. Krėpšta stated that the Presidency supports the scenarios envisaged by the experts.

“We believe that the experts, gathered in the Government, will evaluate, count and weigh the benefits and the potential harms of the release of this restriction. We support the scenarios that are presented and that are” linked “to the infection figures. According to those scenarios, it is quite clear which areas could be left unoccupied if the epidemiological situation is better than the current one ”, said the head of G. Nausėda. tutor.

Speaking about the current vaccination rates in the country, S. Krėpšta said that they could be further improved.

“Vaccination rates are not bad, we are among the top five countries in the EU. On the other hand, we should not compete with other states, but we should set ourselves an ambitious goal to achieve universal immunity, “stressed the head of G. Nausėda. Tutor.

Expert: the goal is realistic

For his part, Kęstutis Petrikonis, vice-rector of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, said that the president’s goal is to vaccinate 70% before July 15 or 6. country’s population – is optimistic, but realistic.

“Each family doctor should provide about a thousand. Vaccinations of their patients and this would take three or four months. (Tiek) Both must be coordinated and managed. Those figures could be realistic and the proposal to vaccinate so many populations in mid-July it is optimistic, but it is also likely to be achieved if there are enough vaccines, “said Petrikonis.

Proposes the transfer of control of vaccination processes to a single center

According to the researcher, the main recommendation of the experts is that the vaccination process be clear, coordinated by the inter-institutional vaccination coordination center.

“I could plan vaccines on the model of vaccine types. (…) These processes must be supervised. As far as we know, that process is divided into separate institutions, it will probably play out the way it can. However, by centralizing and coordinating it, all processes could be carried out according to the best management principles. Of course, logistics must also be managed ”, said the vice-chancellor of LSMU.

According to him, specialists also recommend managing different flows of vaccinated people through the health system, to provide additional vaccination algorithms for the second dose of the vaccine.

“If you get vaccinated twice, you might get vaccinated at the vaccination center once, and the person can be hospitalized the next time. Those processes are small, but they need to be very clear,” said K. Petrikonis.

He also highlighted the need to establish a herd immunity surveillance system.

“We offer our experts to those institutions where they can help forecast and count. We have the strongest mathematicians in Lithuania, who now predict the epidemiological situation with almost a thousand precision. Perhaps this could also be very important for vaccination processes”, said K. Petrikonis.

The vice-chancellor of the LSMU also noted that patients could find out about the possible timing of vaccination with their family doctor. A new phone number should also be established to advise the public on coronavirus vaccination.

“There are many questions, so we suggest preparing intensively now, not when the vaccination begins,” the researcher emphasized.

Substantial improvement can be expected in late February – early March

According to K. Petrikonis, a significant improvement in morbidity rates can be expected by the end of next month.

“We are talking about a significant improvement in late February – early March, when there will be fewer patients in hospitals and the incidence will drop to a number where certain restrictions can be lowered.” One more month awaits us like now. You will have to suffer because there are other problems with possible mutations. “We have to be very careful with these releases, but of course they will be necessary and will be done,” Petrikonis said.

According to him, experts analyze vaccination practices in various foreign countries.

“Lithuania needs separate solutions, that’s why we offer that center with people, we offer to delegate our experts in forecasts and calculations,” explained the vice-chancellor of LSMU.

According to the researcher, the vaccination centers would be coordinated by a single established process management center.

Proposes the implementation of a viral genomics research program

At that time, Professor Edita Sužiedėlienė, Vice Chancellor of Vilnius University, stated that genomic sequencing of the virus was necessary in Lithuania.

“Several strains of the virus have been identified, whose origins are linked to other countries. They are worrisome due to mutations in the genome and certain properties of the virus that can change the epidemiological situation with some freedom ”, said the VU professor.

Therefore, as E. Sužiedėlienė explained, the state must have an approved virus genomic research program.

According to her, this issue is also a concern at the European level. The researcher provided an example that with around 10,000 positive coronavirus tests per week, a small percentage of those must also be tested through an ongoing genomic sequence testing program.

“If we want to determine an even higher probability, then the scope of the study should be expanded several times,” said the VU professor.

According to E. Sužiedėlienė, the study of viral genome sequencing costs around several hundred euros.

M. Sinkevičius: There are only 4 municipalities where there is no pandemic low tide yet

Mindaugas Sinkevičius, president of the Lithuanian Municipalities Association (LSA), who attended the meeting, said that in only four municipalities the epidemiological situation due to coronavirus is worse, the remaining municipalities look better.

“There was talk and general information about the situation with the municipalities – only 4 of the 60 municipalities – including Ignalina, Visaginas, Plungė – are in the red, where the epidemic is raging and the ebb is not yet high. The rest of Lithuania and others municipalities look much better, ”said M. Sinkevičius.

“Obviously, the situation is improving, but as said yesterday and today, (…) it is not yet time to relax. What was discussed yesterday with the President, with the Head of Government, is, as I understand it, that we want to achieve that scenario of not having to go backwards like a roller coaster, that we have freed ourselves, and after a while we have to stop and re-limit social and economic life ”. , – said M. Sinkevičius.