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The government approved the requirement to wear masks indoors as of Friday, and it is recommended that both public and private legal entities organize work remotely.
Lukas Galkus, Chief Specialist of the Information Resources and Electronic Health System Division of the Ministry of Health (SAM), told the “Delfi Tema” program that the Ministry’s efforts are aimed at vaccinating the most vulnerable people.
“The objective of SAM in the near future and throughout the pandemic was to ensure that the most vulnerable groups were vaccinated. Now we are doing everything possible, together with municipalities, health institutions, so that the most vulnerable, that is, the elderly, those who suffer from chronic diseases and who have not yet decided to get vaccinated, do so as soon as possible. Possible vaccine and be protected against COVID disease, “said Galkus.
A SAM representative did not rule out that additional measures could be taken until a sufficient part of the public was vaccinated, but did not elaborate.
“The government is considering these measures until there are solutions, it is difficult to comment on anything. All options are being considered, “said L. Galkus.
The system is already low on resources
According to the director of medicine for the Santara clinics, hematologist Valdas Pečeliūnas, as the flow of stroke patients increases, the hospital is already beginning to restrict planned services.
“The limit that the use of 100 resuscitation beds for Lithuania already means that the services provided may be limited has been publicly debated,” recalled V. Pečeliūnas.
According to the doctor, the problem in this case is not the beds, the premises or the appliances, but the qualified people who could provide the highest level of assistance.
“Because for those patients who are in resuscitation, unfortunately, the chances of survival are drastically reduced. Even the highest level professionals have a hard time saving them, ”said V. Pečeliūnas.
According to the director of medicine at Clinicas Santara, the system currently lacks the resources to provide the necessary services.
“Restricting services accordingly, when we believe that restricting these services, will have no consequences for individuals. (…) The restriction of scheduled services for individuals manifests itself in increasing queues,” said V. Pečeliūnas.
It is said that both elders and priests could help
According to data from the Department of Statistics, the least vaccinated are people between 27 and 28 years of age, as well as people over 80 and under 18 years of age.
Grasilda Makarevičienė, director of the Lithuanian Association of the Elderly, says that most of the older people she knows have been vaccinated.
“Our association gathers 59,612 members. Most are vaccinated. Some people don’t get vaccinated just because they can’t get vaccinated. Because people our age suffer from a variety of diseases: all kinds of allergies, circulatory diseases and bronchial asthma. They say that “not even doctors advise us, because here there is a risk,” said G. Makarevičienė.
The head of the Association of the Aged said he had not heard of cases of children discouraging the elderly from getting vaccinated.
“He mainly listens to neighbors, friends and those who still live in remote areas (…) they used to have to travel from town to get vaccinated. That’s what I asked the question, I said, “attract everyone from all angles to the choice, why can’t a vaccinated bus come and get vaccinated?” It’s coming, “said G. Makarevičienė.
According to the interlocutor of the program, the elderly person is the one who best knows the situation in a particular area.
“Because he also has a connection with doctors, and not only the doctor, but also the elderly can advise whether a person can be vaccinated or not,” said G. Makarevičienė.
The head of the Association of the Elderly named who are the highest authorities for the elderly in this regard.
“It is both the elders and the municipal staff who supervise this area, especially the priests. Gi could cheer up and ask people not to be afraid. People living in remote and rural areas are very afraid that there will be no consequences after vaccination. As they live alone, the children left and left the old people alone, they say: “What if it was bad after the vaccine?”, (…) “What if I die and nobody finds me?” As you hear here on all kinds of radio and television, there are all kinds of “rumors”, “said G. Makarevičienė.
Those who are afraid should be given at least half an hour for the interview.
Clinicas Santara’s director of medicine, a hematologist, noted that vaccine opponents often point to the alleged insecurity, demanding 100 percent safety.
“Most doctors emphasize the relationship between risks. In fact, vaccines are incredibly safe. There are very few serious side effects. There are no real contraindications that can be applied to a large number of people, ”said V. Pečeliūnas.
The doctor said he understood people who were skeptical about vaccines.
“How can this be solved? First of all, you are listening to a person and answering their doubts, not a trial, not a conviction, not a strong push for vaccination. You just need to listen to the person,” explained V. Pečeliūnas.
The doctor understands that the current problem is to vaccinate around half a million more people.
“Such conversations should take 30 minutes to an hour to listen to one person. This is very difficult to do. My vision would be to significantly increase the involvement of GPs who know people, most of the time people trust their GPs. Consequently, those conversations must be precisely to answer people’s questions, “said V. Pečeliūnas.
According to the doctor, the risk that a person with comorbidities will develop a disease is enormous.
“And not just some non-dangerous problems like fever or cough, but life-threatening problems. 10 percent and more people with comorbidities die of contracted death. When, meanwhile, curative vaccines are currently one of the most researched products in the world. Billions of people have been vaccinated and almost two million in Lithuania. This is a large-scale recipe, if there were bigger problems, they would be very obvious, ”said V. Pečeliūnas.
Experts agree on one
The doctor assured that there were no systemic problems with the effect of vaccines in health centers.
“This is emphasized by all competent authorities, from the European Medicines Agency to the United States Food and Drug Administration, the World Health Organization. Basically, all specialists agree that vaccines are very safe. and its benefits far outweigh the potential harms, ”said V. Pečeliūnas.
The problem, according to the doctor, is that people’s thinking is not necessarily mathematical.
“Let’s say an example is that people see the damage caused by an action as much greater than the damage caused by inaction. It means:” I’m not vaccinated, I could die. “But this is not as big a problem for them as” if I get vaccinated, my hand or head will hurt, “explained V. Pečeliūnas.
A physician has had a number of difficult conversations for a patient during his career when it comes to considering the balance between harm and benefit of his choices.
“As a hematologist throughout my doctoral career, for twenty years, I have been working with people who need chemotherapy, talking to people before transplants. This is quite similar to the emotional well-being of a person, because chemotherapy, we say, is not holy water, it really does have side effects and we are always talking about the benefits and harms. So what are the benefits of treating cancer that has complications (and major complications)? What will be the damage if we do not apply this treatment? It is very similar, “said V. Pečeliūnas.
According to the doctor, when it comes to vaccines, the harm-benefit ratio is many times higher on the vaccination side.
“But these conversations usually last 30 minutes. First of all, listen to a person, do not condemn, do not try to implement, but find out what their fears are, what is the basis of anxiety, answer questions, without emotions, without condemnation. Usually a friendly consensus is reached on what is the best solution. (…) In the case of vaccines, this discussion should be even simpler, because the relationship between harm and benefit is very large, ”said V. Pečeliūnas.
There are already examples of success
The SAM representative was in no rush to answer whether the Lithuanian health system can give the remaining unvaccinated at least half an hour to discuss their fears.
“It is difficult to say if we are capable, but we seem positive because we have positive examples. We have examples where all towns are vaccinated because there are dedicated health professionals who interact individually with each resident. Because the population trusts the population of the health system, they are able to persuade them to get vaccinated ”, said L. Galkus, expressing the hope that these examples of success will be repeated.
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