Deputy Minister: In Vilnius, every contact is worth rethinking in the next 2-3 weeks

Ž. Simonaitytė told Delfi rytas on Friday that Lithuania should receive about 1.5 million doses of vaccines by the end of June.

“We will receive the vaccines at the end of June, so at least one and a half million of them will be enough to vaccinate us with at least one dose. Naturally, vaccines are different, that interval between 2 doses is different. Part of the population will have received 2 doses, but this population will have received at least one dose ”, he explained.

The vice minister announced that vaccine volumes will be higher in May than in April.

“And when it comes to the amounts in May, they will be even higher than in April. With over 100,000 doses per week, we are still waiting for the final schedules. But even in the most pessimistic option, we will still have more than 100,000, we will have weeks where there will be many more of those vaccines. In fact, the challenge now will not only be the shortage of vaccines that we had, but also the organization of the process, the invitation to the people, the registration and all the other issues, ”said Vice Minister Ž. Simonaitytė.

He said the population’s “favorite” Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine would be available in the highest quantities in the near future. AstraZeneca will also offer a large number of vaccines.

Public opinion polls suggest that the desired public immunity must be achieved.

“Hopefully we will be successful, it depends on each one of us. We probably did a public opinion poll in February. (…) The trends we see are that more than 40 percent of each group actually comes to be vaccinated without any warning, wanting a vaccine. There are still around 20 percent that require a little extra persuasion, but they allow us to hit the required percentage, but they also arrive. And the remaining percentage are those people who need more of this work, more explanations, more persuasion to accept to be vaccinated ”, he said.

The interlocutor of the program “Delfi rytas” also recalled the long-term consequences of the coronavirus. The vaccine can protect against them.

“One very important thing is that we are now working hard and what scientists are seeing. It is a long cattle: symptoms appear in people after the disease. And the more severe the form of the disease, the more likely it is to remain. after the disease. Naturally, we should all try to avoid an extremely serious form of the disease. And all vaccines protect against it 100 percent, “said ŽAM Deputy Minister Ž. Simonaitytė.

Once the mass vaccination of the population has started, which has already really started in the Vilnius region, the population will be invited by age groups.

And in the same region of Vilnius, where the number of infections is critical and we direct many more vaccines there this week, it can be said that it has already entered the mass vaccination stage. Invite people 55 and older to get vaccinated, next week will invite people 45 and older. That plan exists, because the coronavirus and its severe forms are more dangerous for older people, not just those over 65. And for mass vaccination, we plan to travel during that 10-year period, “he said.

The situation in the city and district of Vilnius is the worst in Lithuania. Therefore, Vice Minister Ž. Simonaitytė asks to look at the situation responsibly.

“It just came to our notice then. And in the case of Vilnius, we are exclusively fighting time. COVID-19 is fighting the coming vaccines and the rate of vaccination, and we probably all hope that, as we run the marathon, we will see another big hill ahead of the miles. We all hope to get over that hill and not have to stop. The speed has slowed down, but that will manage to beat it. In Vilnius, the period of 2-3 weeks is essential. The main attraction for all that we are in this region in terms of opportunities to think if we really need contact in the coming weeks, is to go shopping, “said Deputy Minister Ž. Simonaitytė.

She said a tense situation awaits him in Vilnius hospitals in the coming weeks.

“We hope that it is not necessary to take cardinal measures to stop the planned procedures,” said Vice Minister SAM Ž. Simonaitytė.