Serbia awaits Crisis Staff decision at 1 pm; Relaxation of measures possible or not?

Serbia awaits Crisis Staff decision at 1 pm; Relaxation of measures possible or not?

The previous session was held on Tuesday, and a decision was made that the current measures will remain in force until further notice.

The Minister of Health, Zlatibor Lončar, stated last night that a total of 84.075 citizens have been vaccinated in Serbia so far, and added that the vaccination will continue tomorrow, as well as in the following days.

Lončar: The citizens have chosen a good path - the path of prevention

Loncar told RTS that the Ministry of Health is satisfied with the response of the citizens, but also with the functioning of the system for applying for vaccination and the issuance of a certificate on the received vaccine.

He added that the vaccination will continue tomorrow, as well as in the following days.

"What gives us further hope and faith is that the citizens have chosen a good path, and that is the path to achieve the results we want through prevention, to have as few patients with coronavirus as possible in our hospitals," said Lončar.

He added that this also means that hospitals return from COVID to the normal system of work, in order for doctors to dedicate themselves to other patients who are waiting for diagnosis and therapy.

Asked how many are registered through the eUprava portal and the call center, Lončar added that this number changes from minute to minute and that currently there are a total of 400.000 citizens through both ways of registration.

He announced that the number of operators will be increased in the coming days in order to speed up the registration.

Loncar warns that there should be no relaxation after the first dose.

"I get the impression that when people receive the first dose of the vaccine, they think they have finished the job. Please, I appeal that this does not happen. The day you received it or the next day is not realistic and it is not possible to create your immunity not to wear a mask and to do everything we are not allowed to do", the Minister points out.

He calls on the citizens to be extremely careful for the next three weeks, while they are revaccinated, and for another seven to 10 days. "This is the period when immunity is acquired and when you can say that the vaccine has done its job. Please pay attention to that period between the vaccine and the revaccination, because even then the organism did not acquire enough immunity not to become infected," says Loncar.

The director of the KCS Infectious Diseases Clinic, Goran Stevanović, says that a third of his team was vaccinated, while the others already have antibodies because they were infected. He points out that he is satisfied with the response of the doctors for vaccination.

Speaking about the current situation at the Infectious Diseases Clinic, Stevanović says that the numbers are getting better and that there are fewer examinations and hospitalizations.

He says that while at the peak there were between 400 and 500 examinations a day, of which 30 percent were hospitalized, now 150 to 180 examinations are performed. However, he warns that he is still worried about the arrival of patients with chronic diseases who develop severe clinical pictures.

Immunologist Srdja Jankovic says that we can be satisfied with the speed of vaccination, but the essence, he points out, is to continue with it and for as many people as possible to be vaccinated in order to gain collective immunity. He points out that all vaccines that have been licensed in Serbia are safe and produce a high degree of protection, as well as being effective against the new strain of coronavirus.

Severe allergies are relative contraindications and people can be vaccinated with appropriate caution, Janković says, adding that if someone has a difficult diagnosis, vaccination can be delayed until the condition improves.

"COVID-19 can harm all patients more than a vaccine," says Janković.

Jankovic adds that the new strain of the virus is spreading faster, but that there is no evidence that it is more dangerous.

Janković also warns that the vaccine is not there to take off the mask ahead of time, but to protect lives and for the epidemic to end.