It is important that two-thirds of population voluntarily get vaccinated against Covid-19 in short space of time - Levits

  • 2021-01-04
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - It is important that two-thirds of the population voluntarily get vaccinated against Covid-19 in a short space of time, President Egils Levits said at a meeting with the Latvian Junior Doctors Association's head Arturs Silovs and the association's former head Karlis Racenis on Monday.

During the remote meeting today, Levits heard Silovs and Racenis' opinions about the current situation at Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital and Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, as well as the two experts' suggestions regarding the vaccination strategy and personnel shortages in hospitals.

The president said that the vaccination strategy had to be implemented as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Silovs and Racenis said in turn that the epidemiological restrictions should be further stepped up for a few weeks to help bring the virus under control. They also believe that more should be done to reach out to the Russian-speaking part of society through the media.

According to Silovs and Racenis, brief educational courses about the Covid-19 vaccine should be organized for all healthcare workers in order to dispel stereotypes and misinformation about the coronavirus. Levits agreed that this was essential for the health of the entire country.

Silovs and Racenis also pointed out that many healthcare services were currently unavailable and that scheduled healthcare services would be overburdened once the crisis is over.