ArmInfo. During the consultation chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the country and the vaccination process were discussed.
As reported by the press service of the Prime Minister, the head of the Armenian Ministry of Health Anahit Avanesyan reported that the number of people vaccinated against Covid-19 exceeded 277 thousand people, only 9,900 vaccinations were made yesterday. According to her, the mood of the townspeople indicates a positive trend. So, according to a study by the Ministry of Health, if in March of this year only 10% of people were ready for vaccination, now about 50% are in favor of vaccination. The Minister assured that the number of vaccines in the country is at a sufficient level, the existing stocks are being replenished with a new batch.
The meeting participants touched upon the order of the head of the Ministry of Health, which comes into force on October 1, 2021, according to which persons carrying out economic activities will be required to have a vaccination certificate or a negative result of PCR test every 14 days.
The Prime Minister instructed interested government bodies to ensure the implementation of the order, which will enter into force on October 1. Nikol Pashinyan stressed the importance of this legislative regulation in the context of controlling the epidemic situation, ensuring public health responsibility and raising public awareness in this direction.
Earlier, the Ministry of Health of Armenia made amendments to the requirements for compliance with anti- epidemiological standards, which will come into force on October 1 and will affect employees in a number of spheres. In particular, according to decision 65 N of the Minister of Health, from October 1, workers are required to submit a negative PCR test result to the employer every 14 days. The test certificate must be received no later than 72 hours, the test is carried out at the expense of the employee.
The requirement applies to employees of government agencies, municipalities, closed enterprises, mining, construction sites, organizations engaged in office activities, wholesale and retail trade, service industries (hotels, catering points, beauty salons), public transport. This is a mandatory requirement for health workers, gyms, sports schools, employees of kindergartens, educational institutions, libraries, cinemas, museums and other cultural facilities. Restrictions do not apply to people who have completed the full course of vaccination, or received one dose of the drug and are waiting for a second dose, pregnant women and those who have a temporary or permanent contraindication to vaccination. Despite the fact that the head of the Ministry of Health herself has repeatedly stated that vaccination against coronavirus does not exclude the risk of infection, today Avanesyan in the National Assembly of Armenia, during a working discussion on this issue, stated that it is not known for certain whether revaccination will be required or not, but if the third dose of vaccine, it will need to be received.
It should be noted that the process of large-scale vaccination started in Armenia on April 13, and it is planned to vaccinate about 700 thousand residents by the end of the year. Vaccinations in Armenia are free of charge, while the cost of taking a PCR test is about 15 thousand drams (about $ 30).