Next year, in accordance with the agreement with the European Commission, Latvia will receive 221 000 Covid-19 vaccine doses, says Minister of Health Hosams Abu Meri.
He reminds that neither Latvia nor the European Union in general can afford to drop agreements, because the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines was signed for the entirety of the EU, and Latvia is eligible to receive some of those vaccines. There is good news as well – the European Commission managed to slash the number of procured vaccines by half – from 1.6 million to 800 000 doses. As result, Latvia will not have to pay for the previously reserved amount. This helps save finances, said the minister.
He admits that in the next three years Latvia will still keep receiving vaccines as part of the procurement. In 2024 the country will receive 221 000 doses.
EU member states offer vaccines to other countries if their stores are above the planned use projection. The minister said Estonia has recently asked Latvia to donate Covid-19 vaccines. Looking at the situation, Latvia can offer Estonia up to 40 000 Pfizer/BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine doses.
Abu Meri said he is definitely not in favour of mandatory vaccination, as it was during Covid-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, since September the Ministry of Health has put a great deal of effort into motivating residents to get vaccinated. General practitioners also reach out to patients whenever they can, especially seniors, to remind them and offer vaccination.
“I too invite all residents to remind their parents and grandparents, especially the ones in risk groups, about flu and Covid-19 vaccination. This is not mandatory, but we can see that lately there have been more and more patients with flu and Covid-19 infections. Unfortunately, there have also been lethal outcomes. What we have now is not a pandemic – there are seasonal viruses. Vaccination for flu is done every year, but now we have Covid-19 to deal with on top of it,” said the minister.
When asked if residents could be charged for Covid-19 vaccination in the future, Abu Meri said
nothing like that is planned, because flu vaccination for certain groups is done free of charge. On top of that, if residents end up having to pay for Covid-19 vaccination, the minister believes even more people will decide not to vaccinate.
The vaccine doses close to their expiration date can be donated to third countries that are in need of vaccines. The politician says donations were organised in the past as well.
Also read: Acute respiratory infections on a rise in Latvia: Covid-19 and RSV
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