Šimonytė does not change position: the remaining doses of vaccines must be given to priority people

According to the head of government, the authorities should do everything possible to use the vaccines according to a list of priorities.

“I emphasize once again that the priority for vaccination now, however, is the elderly and those most at risk of occupying a hospital bed. I understand that a balance must be struck in case those balances increase, but now priorities must remain where they are and institutions should not try to make it easier for them to find older people, perhaps they will not. I don’t want to and things like that. First of all, it is necessary to vaccinate the groups most vulnerable to COVID-19, ”I. Šimonytė told reporters at Seimas on Thursday.

He appreciated the merchants’ attempts to creatively install tickets from the field.

Asked about how he evaluates the attempts of some shops located in supermarkets to enter from the outside through the office space, I. Šimonytė said that he is in no hurry to criticize him if the entrance to the store presents no risks.

“If it’s a secure separate entrance, I really don’t see any major problem with that,” he said.

According to her, the government will assess the epidemiological situation after Easter and consider changing the quarantine regime for traders.

“These are not closed issues that the Government will not consider. The most important thing for us now is to wait as safely as possible until the time after Easter, because now the situation is stable and moderately complicated, because the number of cases is around 800-900 cases, ”said I. Šimonytė.

The prime minister also made no secret of understanding another problem: when residents are unable to visit critically ill loved ones in hospitals.

“I would like to believe that when the epidemic subsides, it will be possible to find intermediate solutions or allow family members to visit their seriously ill relatives by testing or further vaccinating people,” said I. Šimonytė.

Šimašius asks the ministry to allow more free use of vaccine waste

The mayor of the capital, Remigijus Šimašius, is asking the Ministry of Health (SAM) to allow more free use of COVID-19 vaccine residues, so that it is not necessary to discard doses.

“Informal talks have already taken place, and today the mayor of Vilnius has officially asked SAM to allow the vaccines left at the end of the day to be used more freely by registrants, thus avoiding losses,” said Karolis Vaitkevičius, spokesperson for the mayor told BNS on Tuesday.

According to municipal data, in the capital 72 doses of more than 81 thousand vaccines had to be used. The Kaunas city municipality has lost a total of 41 doses out of 82,000, mostly Moderna vaccine.

“We lost ten doses because a bottle of AstraZeneca arrived broken at the vaccination center. Another 31 vaccines had to be used in the first weeks of vaccination, including 28 doses of Moderna and three doses of AstraZeneca, ”said Daiva Kuzminienė, Head of the Kaunas Municipality Health Department.

“Currently, we have established processes to ensure the proper use of all vaccines, so we do not suffer further losses,” he said.

At that time, two doses of Moderna vaccine were to be used in one of the two vaccination centers in Klaipėda, and four doses in Šiauliai, representatives of these municipalities informed BNS.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said Tuesday that she still does not see the need to change the vaccination procedure.

“If this really becomes a problem on a large scale, then of course the legislation will need to be changed,” I. Šimonytė told reporters on Tuesday.

He recalled the example of Israel and other countries, where people are invited to a live queue at the end of the day without using all the vaccines. SAM recommends that vaccination centers use the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines in the first half of the day, since they are valid for six hours after opening, and AstraZeneca in the second half of the day, since the opened bottle has valid for 48 hours.

According to data from the Department of Statistics, 330.8 thousand patients were vaccinated with the first dose in Lithuania. people, both doses – 152.9 thousand. Lithuania has so far received more than 554.7 thousand. vaccines, of which more than 483.7 thousand were used.