Absolutely, the only way to break the vicious cycle and reduce the growth of new infections is a strict “lokdaun“Everything must be closed for two or three weeks, with the vaccination continuation at the same rate, otherwise everything we have done so far falls into the water. Many people are in intensive care, on respirators and many die after the first vaccine dose because not at all. and they won’t hear that immunity isn’t built as soon as they get it vaccine, much later – says in an interview with Kurir prof. Dr. Radmilo Janković, deputy director of the University Clinical Center Nis and Director of the Clinic of Anesthesia and Intensive Care UCC Nis.
And where is the economy?
– There is no economic justification, especially that service activities can contribute to maintaining an economic level for the daily loss of human life. We have to have Mere which will mean that we have no deceased. We cannot settle for having a balance of life and an epidemic in which we know that people will die every day. This is unacceptable from all aspects, and above all ethical, and especially from the point of view of those who see death every day and who have lived it in their closest environment. All of Europe is subject to much more severe epidemiological measures. We must be strictly in the “lockdown”, to reduce the contacts to the lowest possible level. Hospitals, anesthesiologists, pulmonologists, intensive care, respirators will not save human lives. The only thing that will save the health of the nation and lives is vaccination and the most rigorous measures possible with strict controls. And the behavior in front of the Patriarchate and on the Danube quay, both conservative and European, is completely unacceptable to me. A lack of respect for one measure cannot justify a lack of respect on the other hand.
Are we already in the fourth wave?
– I do not think that this is the fourth wave, but rather an unfinished story of the third wave, which is complicated perhaps by the excessive expectations of vaccination and, consequently, by the relaxation of discipline. And another potentially very dangerous thing is the appearance of new mutated strains of the virus in our environment. A high frequency of these strains is found in northern Macedonia and Montenegro, and it is expected that they will also be in our country. Vaccination should be as fast as possible to obtain the highest possible immunity and not be fertile ground for various strains, which are becoming even more complicated.
How many cases of infection do you have after the first dose?
– I do not have precise statistics, but we have many patients who are in intensive care, many of them with respirators, and many of those who died in the last few days without receiving the first dose of a vaccine. This is mainly the case with the “Sinofarm” vaccine because it was the one that was applied the most. Clinical studies show that sufficient immunity to prevent hospitalization and serious illness develops only a few weeks after the second dose. There is a little less contagion after the first dose of the Russian vaccine, which has really almost begun to be administered in our country, as well as the “Pfizer”, with which very few people have been vaccinated. I do not mean to say that it depends on the quality of the vaccines, each one needs a different time to develop immunity, but the problem is that the control of compliance with anti-epidemic measures has been completely relaxed.
Now there are many more infected children.
– Now it is problematic, and what is completely new, to have a large number of infected children, mainly high school students. And their contagion comes, above all, from their intensive contacts and socialization during the afternoon and evening, and less from the schools. And then they infect the parents and the whole family, that is, grandparents, close relatives. We had entire families infected, even if several members of one family died. These are terrible dramas, family members accuse each other of bringing the infection into the house, with remorse.
photo: Ana Paunković
That is not what we will be
More than half of health workers have not been vaccinated
It also points out that many doctors will not be vaccinated.
– The sad truth is that we have less than 50 percent of health workers vaccinated in health institutions, in addition to the scandalous fact that some of us have so-called professional authorities, often in leadership positions, supporters of the anti-vaccine movement.
But they, like everyone else, have a choice.
– If I asked myself, that would be strictly prohibited. There are also people in hospitals who cannot get vaccinated for some medical reason. And then you can’t work without vaccinating, with great potential to infect patients. Health professionals cannot choose whether or not they want to be vaccinated if they work in health centers. If they no longer want to work in healthcare facilities, then it may be a matter of personal choice. But public health cannot be a matter of personal choice. Well, a surgeon cannot operate without protective gloves because they cause eczema on his hands. The most disgusting and dangerous thing is having health workers who set an example for other colleagues, such as directors who have not been vaccinated. They shouldn’t be in those places.
What is the situation in hospitals in southern Serbia?
– The situation in southern Serbia is dramatic. In Nis alone, there are more than 200 people infected per day, which is surprising considering that we have by far the highest number of people vaccinated per 100,000 inhabitants. About 70,000 people have already received the vaccine. There are more than 100 patients in Vranje hospital, so there is almost no free space in Surdulica. Patients are being transferred to the Nis University Medical Center and we have almost 200 again. In addition, the Kruševac hospital already has about 110 hospitalized. Medical staff are under a lot of pressure, exhausted. Both as a society and as a state, we must take a more serious and demanding step to bring this under control.
We also have shopping tours from South Macedonia to Vranje, and there was talk of simultaneous illegal vaccination.
– Many colleagues and friends from Kumanovo and Skopje called me to “ask” me to help them in some way to get vaccinated in Serbia because they heard that it was possible. All of them were vaccinated thanks to a donation of vaccines from Serbia that went to North Macedonia. Now, I don’t know if there was or was illegal vaccination, but the pressure until two or three weeks ago was great, because we have a vaccination expansion.
The party crown
Punish even harder
Despite the warnings, there are more and more crown parties …
– Corona parties are scandalous, and are repeated only because people do not receive a clear message that it is not allowed. Obviously, the sanctions are not adequate. It would punish the organizers, in addition to money, by closing the bar for a long time. If someone throws a party and pays a token fine with no consequences for other businesses, they will do it again. And if the party participant does not have or does not have the appropriate sanctions, and because of their behavior, someone can die tomorrow, of course they will do it again. Just look at the sanctions for non-compliance in Turkey. There, of course, there are no such phenomena.
What have we and what have we not learned from this crown year in Serbia?
– We have not learned to respect each other as people. As a society, we have not learned that in the most difficult situation, and this has happened to us often throughout history, we have national empathies, when we need to be friends with the people.
photo: Ana Paunković
What were we good at?
– We had a fairly resilient health care system, which withstood the pressure that many other countries would not withstand. I’m proud of that, and especially the same people who have been working in kovid hospitals for a year, they don’t give up, they don’t give up on saving lives, and many have been infected once or twice. And all this despite the fact that they are not right in many things, which is sometimes seen by colleagues who have gone through this year in a rather casual way, with exotic vacations and trips. Those who were not penalized for their behavior remained in the leadership positions, although in many respects they tarnished the face of the medical profession, and some even progressed.
Nepotism
Variety of knowledge about the medical profession.
Why do we have a shortage of vaccinated health workers?
– The fact that so many health workers have not been vaccinated, and the so-called Professional authorities are anti-vaccines is a direct consequence of decades of naked nepotism that is completely independent of social milieu and political patronage. It survives as a cancer-stricken society for decades, mostly in universities, and continues later. For decades, generations of young, successful, and honest people have rejected flattery, indulgence, and obedience as the main inputs to success. It seems that the one-way departure of these people from Serbia has now stopped, but I am afraid it may be for the moment. Many young doctors preserved the image of the medical profession during the pandemic, and the state was grateful. I’m afraid that if it weren’t for that, they would never have had a chance here; In addition to mediocrity, false authorities sit comfortably in the middle of popular understanding of the medical profession. This time she gave birth to true heroes of the medical profession, and fortunately society recognized it. I am honored to have guided you through a combination of circumstances and to have trusted me.
