Šimonytė – on quarantine releases: there may be room for small changes

This week, the government decided not to change the quarantine. The Passport of Opportunities will begin operating on May 24. Until then, according to I. Šimonytė, if possible, it will be only small changes to the quarantine.

“There are really no proposals this week, in the next few weeks it will depend on the epidemiological situation as it develops. Until now, it is as stable as it used to be, unsatisfactory but stable. The number of cases is very similar, the tension in the hospitals of the Vilnius region still remains, but less than a couple of weeks ago. Consequently, there is not a very large space for very special releases. There may be some technical changes, minor changes, but I don’t want to guess ahead of time, “said the Head of Government.

With more and more open activities, the question often arises as to why there is still a restriction to communicate with another household in a private and closed space. Prime Minister I. Šimonytė stated why this restriction remains in force.

“There is a difference in the conditions that you can face with other homes like the cinema. You have to sit with a mask, at a certain distance, you can not eat. It is not exactly the same with what we can compare: that if we can be with another home in a theater, we can be with another home at home. Because as at home you meet the safety requirements, no one can evaluate. Until now, this restriction remains, but I am not saying it will be all the time, “said the Prime Minister.

The diffusion of varieties is not associated with the use of the passport of opportunity.

Speaking about the spread of virus strains and the use of the passport of opportunities, the prime minister said that there is no need to link these things so far.

“I wouldn’t associate this directly with the passport of opportunity unless there was a situation where the mutation made the overall epidemiological situation so bad that the idea couldn’t be put into practice, but it’s more speculation of ‘what if ‘series, “said I. Šimonytė.

However, he assured that samples are being carried out in the country.

“The so-called British variant prevails in Lithuania, the mutation we are trying to protect. “We have achieved it for a while, but it is obvious that without living in a closed world, no democratic state could do it all the time,” said the Head of Government.

Will the vaccination be changed?

The Health Ministry (SAM) said Wednesday that it intends to decide in the near future whether the manufacturer’s AstraZeneca vaccines against COVID-19 should not be administered to younger people.

I. Šimonytė stated after the Government meeting that such decisions should be made by SAM.

He said there was no scientific evidence so far that vaccines could be “mixed up.”

“I have not really heard of any scientific evaluation on the possibility of receiving a vaccine first and then another. But it is the prerogative of the experts, is it possible to do those things?

I. Šimonytė said that there could be various agreements with other countries on easier travel conditions.

“A lot depends on what is here, but also what is in other countries. Because now, the requirements that apply when arriving in a particular country depend on the requirements of that country. (…) But with the growing number people vaccinated worldwide, those requirements are also changing. Bilateral agreements are also possible, where the number of people vaccinated is high, and from which certain procedures are applied when people arrive, local agreements are possible, as is the Baltic bubble.

But these are solutions that need to be harmonized and agreed at a technical level. And if the EU agrees to a digital certificate, it would apply, ”explained I. Šimonytė.