I.Šimonytė spoke about two scenarios: in one case we can expect an improvement at the end of January, in another – a relapse

On Tuesday, I. Šimonytė told reporters at the Seimas that with the permission of health experts, his forecasts will be shared publicly so that people can see the significant impact of his actions on the situation.

“The experts have two scenarios of what the developments would look like in the next month and a half. If people follow the quarantine rules quite massively and sincerely, then we can expect to talk about a few hundred cases by the end of January. We may already be at that stage where we will simply be able to handle the situation smoothly with the help of testing, contact traceability and other means, ”the Prime Minister noted.

If this is not the case, according to I. Šimonyt there, there is a risk that after the holidays, in the first ten days of January, a certain setback will occur. The number of COVID-19 patients would rise again significantly.

“And then those diseases would take longer to reach a manageable level again. Here it seems to me that there is no better proof for the people that their actions are fundamentally critical in this case, ”emphasized the Head of Government.

I. Šimonytė urged to respect the requirements and not to contact several family farms. All celebrations, as he highlighted, can only take place in a family circle.

“For example, my sister will not be able to really come to see me this Christmas and that is very clear because we are two different homes. And we won’t see each other this Christmas, unfortunately. I would also advise others to refrain from such trips. Unless there is a very objective situation, when there are seriously ill relatives or some very very serious occasion, “the prime minister told reporters.

You may need to hire doctors from abroad

The situation in the hospitals of our country is very tense, many doctors are sick.

When asked whether hiring specialists from abroad could be considered, I. Šimonytė did not reject it.

“It is not so easy to gather teams and mobilize them so that they can serve the extra beds that they have to open. Especially not in Vilnius, where for objective reasons the staff is older and in the risk group, this must be taken into account. Probably the problem is that there are not many countries where the situation would be exceptionally good and who could loan their staff to, say, Lithuania or other countries, ”emphasized the Prime Minister.

Now, according to I. Šimonytė, compulsory medical work is not considered. He said he wanted to talk about the conditions under which additional brigades of staff could be recruited where needed.

“Because I believe that doctors are already obliged to work in very, very difficult conditions,” emphasized the head of government.

The first batch of vaccines – 10 thousand. units

Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys said that fewer than 10,000 people should arrive in Lithuania first. dose of coronavirus vaccine.

“This is the first number that we know of at this time, but it is clear that larger numbers should continue to appear. Obviously, for 10,000 vaccines this is very little. We will evaluate it as a completely early stage,” said I. Šimonytė.

According to the prime minister, mass vaccination will begin when there are already enough vaccines to start mass vaccination.

The vaccination will be administered mainly to medical personnel and people at high risk of infection, the elderly and people suffering from certain diseases.

“And then the general public. That algorithm seems very similar to me. Now, the most important thing is probably not to organize the lines correctly, but to organize the logistics themselves correctly. The Ministry of Health is working on that now,” said I. Šimonytė.

She believes that a person will be appointed to coordinate the entire process.

Additional costs exceed 1 billion

I. Šimonytė said that on Wednesday governments will consider the revised state budget project for next year.

He indicated that the amounts to be added to the project exceed one billion dollars. euros. These funds are related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A large part of that amount, I would say 2/3 is the support that will be needed for workers and businesses. More for employees, less for companies. This means the payment of downtime, the payment of benefits to the self-employed, those people who have temporarily limited activities. Then there is business support: be it subsidies, loans or some other means, ”explained the Prime Minister.

Furthermore, according to I. Šimonytė, there are objective needs of the health system. Assume accessories for clinicians working with COVID-19 patients.

About 65 million. will be reserved for vaccines against the coronavirus.

Some 80 million will be needed for the purchase of protective and laboratory equipment. euros.

“We are talking about amounts well in excess of one billion dollars. Euros. This is really a very significant amount. This is 2 percent. Additional deficit. If the situation improves in the next few years, we can evaluate it simply as a temporary deterioration , which will not move to 2022 and will simply temporarily increase our deficit and also our debt, ”said I. Šimonytė.