The abolition of restrictions will not help us, until the overwhelming majority of the population does not appear immunity against COVID-19. For mass immunity, we need a mass vaccination. And the reasons to expect that in Latvia it will pass quickly, until there is no participants in the transfer of "open question" in Latvian Radio 4, writes rus.lsm.lv.
Politicians seem to have been not considered the preparation of portfolio of vaccines and their purchases with a super-important issue, and his officials were solved as well.
"Probably, many think: when will the restrictions end, when? .. But if we concentrate all the attention on the restrictions, this will not help us - neither the economy or to us personally. Because people expect a normal life. And what we consider to be a normal life is possible only when the virus does not overwhelm the hospital and when it is not a direct danger, a vital threat to the population. And this is possible when 70% with immunity, "said Political Observer, Journalist Frederick Imant Ozole.
Executive Director of the Center for Research Journalism Re: Baltica Sanita Emberg agrees with him:
"Everything that is happening now is a consequence of how we made up your vaccine portfolio last fall. What distinguishes us from Lithuania and Estonia - we did not make decisions in the government, left them in the conduct of officials, and they decided how to skill themselves and how long the foresight was enough, "the reasons for the failure of S. Emberg as short as possible.
According to her, and now, when the journalistic investigation is completed, some of the issues remained unanswered. In particular, it is not clear why the government did not report that Latvia abandoned the purchase of part of Biontech / Pfizer vaccines, which politicians learned on a pure chance.
"At the political level, before November-December, no one was interested in how the vaccine portfolio is drawn up and how large the vaccination process is. For me, it is just a connivance. Vaccination is our only opportunity to come to normal life, "she said.
As for the level of officials, where, in fact, and decisions were made about procurement (or on the refusal of them), then, as the journalist says, there they agreed at one point fear of making decisions, narrow the horizons and the absence of a transparent procedure.
"So politically there was a connivance. And at the level of the officialhood, people simply did not make their work at the level you expect from the state. Well, as a result, people even from the risk group can not get their vaccine. We are in the last place in the EU along with Bulgaria.
I am not a very emotional man, but I am very evil because of this. [...] Of course, we can say that time is such difficult, it is difficult to accept the solution, because the information is missing, everything changes quickly, and all that. But we already live with this pandemic year! I just incomprehensibly, as the government could have the most important thing to leave on some transventive place. I'm terrified because of this, "described his impressions from the investigation of S. Emberg as a result of the investigation.
"In Germany will be able to move, and we will wait"
To the question, whether he believes that by the end of the summer, 70% of the Latvian adult population really will be brought, as once was supposed, Frederick Imant Ozole answered unequivocally: no. Because, firstly, the supply of vaccines itself is delayed.
"Secondly, it is not necessary to forget that the Vaccine Astrazeneca, for which we put, implies a break between the first and second dose of two or three months. This means - especially if the "green passport" [for vaccinated] is involved, it may turn out that, say, in Germany, people will be able to move more or less normally, because they made additional purchases of Biontech / Pfizer, and we will still Wait - first the first injection, then the second, "he predicts.
However, he also believes that with the purchase of a more complex in the use of a Biontech / Pfizer vaccine, it was not credited not because of some officials, but because of the "culture of refusal" from this drug.
"Because several times [Ex-Minister of Health] Mrs. Vinkele - and not only she is alone, there was a professor of Zavadsk, and a few more people and, by the way, Karinsh also expressed that it was so expensive, so complicated vaccine that [put on it] does not make sense, "Guest reminded.
The first official check revealed the following: The decision on the volume of procurement of vaccines The government did not accept - although he discussed this issue. Purchase requests made a working group - created by spontaneously, without an appropriate order.
According to its results in connection with several purchases of the Biontech-Pfizer vaccine, in which Latvia refused to receive 841 thousand doses, and applied only to 97.5 thousand, the disciplinary affair at the Department of Procurement Department of the Department of Finance Management of the National Health Service Ainar Lazberg and Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health Daine Murman-Umbashko.