[ad_1]
Dr. Valeriu Gheorghiță, coordinator of the national vaccination campaign against COVID, says that in the most optimistic scenario we could receive the vaccine in the second half of December, and in the most pessimistic, at the beginning of next year. In these conditions, there is a scenario, that more and more people circulate, that is to say, that next year, around this time, we will say: “I escaped!”
Two health experts spoke Monday night on Digi24 about how realistic this hypothesis is.
“I agree with the optimistic scenario that we will start vaccinating groups at risk in December, especially medical and paramedical personnel, but I am skeptical about the possibility of achieving the required vaccination target of 70-80 percent of the population. from Romania this year right now. ” , commented in “Jurnalul de Seară” Ioana Stăncel, Public Health Expert. “Not because of the availability of the vaccine, but rather because of human behavior and refusal,” he added.
The refusal of the population to be vaccinated will lead to the impossibility of obtaining group immunity, which is considered achieved after the immunization of 60-70 percent of people.
“The vaccine is a pharmaceutical product, vaccination is a medical service, it can be done, in accordance with the laws on patient rights and human rights, only with the consent of the person. In Romania, we see that there are several movements against the vaccine. The Romanian population does not always know what the benefit is and believes the wrong news about vaccination. They do not obtain information from scientific sites, they do not ask the specialists and most of the time we reach the situation in which although we have the vaccine available, as happened in some years with the flu vaccine, the population does not want the vaccine. way. to achieve the objective of majority vaccination, which must guarantee the interruption of the transmission chain ”, explained Ioana Stăncel.
A beginning of the end
The expert believes that a more realistic estimate of the proportion of the population that will want to be vaccinated would be 40 to 45 percent, which would at least raise the pressure on the medical system. If another 15-20 percent were added, this would not end the pandemic either, but it would mean a controlled reduction, making the epidemic more manageable.
“It just came to our knowledge then 40-45 percent. It is not enough to interrupt the transmission, but it is enough to to increase pressure on the national medical system and I hope that with the help of the press, with the help of health communicators and all health professional organizations, patient organizations, we can increase by 15-20 percent, so that we achieve 60-65 percent, to guarantee safety not from interruption of transmission, but from controlled reduction, so that we can manage the phenomenon of this epidemic, “said Ioana Stăncel.
“It is highly unlikely that it will be said that this year we escaped at this point,” he said. Gindrovel Dumitru, coordinator of the Vaccination Group within the National Society of Family Physicians. “I can say that in practice, the appearance of the vaccine means the beginning of the end of this pandemic,” added Gindrovel Dumitra. “That we can limit it to this year or maybe even another year from now, it is very important that we have a ray of hope,” said the doctor.
The power of example
“At the same time, I’m a bit more optimistic, we could get better vaccination rates, because the first few months are important, when that 30 percent of the population that will be vaccinated at this time will provide an example for the rest of the population, and, practically, the difference of around 30 percent of the hesitant will join these people and receive the vaccine ”, shows Gindrovel Dumitra.
In the polio vaccine, Americans gave the example of the famous Elvis Presley. Is that strategy going to be used even now?
“My opinion is that we are in a democracy at the moment and we must use all the examples in a democracy. Certainly we will also have to use these examples, to give confidence to the population and, last but not least, we will have to bring with us people who are able to communicate, so that ordinary people can understand the benefits of this vaccine, “he said, said Dr. Gindrovel Dumitra.
Editor: Luana Pavaluca
