ArmInfo.Head of the Ministry of Health of Armenia Anahit Avanesyan notes a sharp increase in the number of people wishing to be vaccinated, which, in her opinion, speaks of the confidence of citizens in the vaccination process. "At the same time, we need to increase the number of people vaccinated daily in order to ensure the so-called collective immunity," the minister said on September 24 before a government meeting.
So, according to the head of the Ministry of Health, according to the situation, 385,503 vaccinations against COVID-19 have been made in Armenia today. The rate of vaccination is growing daily - just the day before, 8,440 vaccinations were made (9,900 - September 22). According to Avanesyan, citizens realized that vaccines are effective, safe and protect against serious harm to health and death due to coronavirus infection. Anahit Avanesyan admits that vaccinated citizens are not fully protected from infection with a new coronavirus infection. However, if infected, they are easier to carry the disease. To date, 11 470 patients with COVID-19 are currently undergoing treatment, and 286 alone of them are vaccinated, she said.
RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, stated that when comparing the data, it turns out that the vaccine protects against infection by 97.5% and from hospitalization by 98.2%. The head of government pointed out that to date, no "noteworthy complications" have been recorded among the vaccinated patients.
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, on the eve of Anahit Avanesyan in the National Assembly of Armenia during a working discussion on this issue, she stated that it is not known for certain that revaccination will be required or not, but if necessary receive the third dose of the vaccine, then it will need to be received.
On September 23, during a meeting in the government, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan instructed interested government agencies to ensure the implementation of the order, which will come into force on October 1. 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. 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).