On Tuesday, the 20th of December, Latvian Saeima’s Budget and Finance Committee approved the allocation of EUR 14 257 863 for the Ministry of Health in order to cover the costs associated with Covid-19 outbreak and efforts to combat its consequences.
Funding of EUR 14 031 302 will be used to procure Covid-19 vaccines, as well as finance their delivery, storage and logistics.
Another EUR 226 028 will be allocated towards the budget sub-programme to finance other outpatient health services associated with Covid-19 vaccine injections in July, August and September in 2022. EUR 553 will be diverted towards the budget sub-programme for planned inpatient services.
The committee also agreed to allocated EUR 1.8 million to the Ministry of Health from the budget for emergencies in order to cover costs linked to the procurement of medical equipment needed to treat Covid-19 patients.
Ministry of Health notes that in order to ensure the readiness of the health sector and readiness of hospitals to admit more patients and ensure uninterrupted healthcare services, it is necessary to form hospital reserves. This means it is vital to complete activities to help expand hospital capacity and form reasonable reserves.
To cover the costs that appeared this year between June and November, Liepaja Regional Hospital was provided with EUR 1 277 647, Jekabpils Regional Hospital was provided with EUR 361 914, Jelgava Hospital was provided with EUR 106 396, and Riga 2nd Hospital was provided with EUR 1 468.
Also read: The world is worried about China’s new wave of Covid-19
Latvian Saeima prepares budget for future procurements of Covid-19 vaccines
