The policemen lacked patience: they angrily reprimanded the ministers who made strange arguments

Although the Minister of the Interior (MoI) Agnė Bilotaitė reported that a draft order of the Ministry of Health (SAM) has already been prepared that large groups in groups of lower vaccination priority will be vaccinated against COVID-19, the police said yes I do not want promises and actions.

To draw attention to their problem, some officials gathered at Government House on Wednesday to protest. They chose as a symbol a checkpoint they set up in front of the palace and encouraged authorities to wonder why officers working on the front lines of the pandemic front have not yet received the vaccine.

You want a solution, not a project

Vilnius official Vitalijus Jagminas, who attended the protest, told Delfi that he wanted to draw attention to the late decisions with this action.

“When the state needs help, the police officers agree and we do it with courage, although we realize that we are putting our health and that of others at risk. Public safety can also be affected. Yes, for example , I am not vaccinated, I can also be a carrier.

It is true that now there are inspections and other procedures, but if I am infected and working, interacting with other people, then I myself can be a distributor without knowing it. “

He assured that he did not know any officer who had not had to go to work at the checkpoints. As a result, according to the official, he had to confront hundreds of people when verifying the legality of the trip.

“We just want to draw attention to the established procedures for priorities, so we turn to the Minister of the Interior. I really appreciate that you have understood the problem and that you have contacted the Ministry of Health, which establishes the criteria ”.

When asked if he was happy that a project was finally adopted for the vaccination of officers to begin in the next few days, Jagmin said that the police officers wanted a solution, not a project.

“We want, for example, a solution so that we can get vaccinated somewhere starting tomorrow. In the first place, we are talking about two things so that the official has the right to be vaccinated and can do so, and also to be able to choose which vaccine to vaccinate ”.

From Anyksciai d. The arriving official Rimvydas Vercinskas said that the first campaign was a call to the Government that “good morning, you forgot us.”

“We are not vaccinated, they throw us to the front to fight the pandemic, but we are the last on the vaccination front. (…) We understand that we are in these positions for the second year and we have “celebrated” the second Holy Week in the positions, but we are not yet vaccinated. “

He said that all holidays are welcome at checkpoints, but he only heard promises and nothing more about vaccines.

“It doesn’t matter what vaccine I get, because the vaccine is a vaccine, but I want to work safely.”

I don’t understand why he dropped to the end

Kaunas official Agnė Grėblikaitė praised the mayor of Kaunas for being one of the first to take the initiative to vaccinate officials.

“He is likely to be the leader in that vaccination campaign and has prioritized officials when there are unused vaccines. However, we, as a Lithuanian policeman, understand that we are not subordinate to mayors, but to the Ministry of the Interior and the Government must make those decisions.

Of course, we are happy that the mayors made some decisions without waiting for the Government, but we want the attention of the authorities who left us at the bottom of the priority list. There is frustration in the officer community over this, because when it comes to joining the ranks, there are always cops on their feet. When it is necessary for police officers to be safe in their work and to be able to protect the rest of society, then we do not become a priority. “

In his opinion, the authorities did not put emphasis on setting priorities, so it turned out that the vaccine dose was received first by those who can work from home.

“As the Minister of Education said, they hoped to bring the students back to school, but perhaps the first thing to do was not wait, but rather evaluate the whole situation, when it was already said that the number of infections was increasing. Perhaps the priorities were not marked there. We don’t want to blackmail society or rise to a higher place, but we want to feel safe doing our job. “

According to the official, if they are safe, the rest of the public will be safe.

“It is very likely that after the work at the checkpoints, checking the chimneys, responding to the facts, many policemen will still bring the virus, even if they comply with all the security requirements. We want to point out that we are also part of society, on which all security depends. “

Loreta Soščekienė, president of the Lithuanian Law Enforcement Federation (LTPF), said that the government’s statement on the draft vaccination order does not mean much, as she did not see any signed documents.

“As far as I know, the order is already signed, but we do not have it and we have not seen it, we are practically talking about hearing, not, as they say, about notes. At a press conference from the Health Minister on Tuesday, I did not hear any normal reason why the officers should not have been vaccinated. In fact, his promises were even interpreted in the press in various ways and there was no realization.

Now I understand that the officers will only be vaccinated if there are vaccines left. We are not satisfied with this attitude towards officials. What does “if there is a vaccine” mean? If an officer is instructed to perform his duties, he is not asked whether or not you can. (…) They cannot choose any teleworking, etc., they need to work at checkpoints, go to see sick people kovidu go tt “

According to her, such an attitude of the Minister of Health towards the officials leads to despair and they hope very much that they are still vaccinated and can choose the vaccine, instead of waiting for some kind of forgiveness before the opportunity to get vaccinated.