Lithuanian PM urges young people to get vaccinated to enjoy good situation longer

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte has urged younger people to get the coronavirus jab as it will determine how long the country will be able to enjoy a better epidemiological situation.

The head of government sees major risks towards the fall when children will return to school and the number of contacts will increase significantly.

"We need to get vaccinated. That's my key call. Elder people have heard the call and the rates of vaccination and general immunization we have in the 65+ age group with the highest risk of death upon infection, if we take into account the fact that some people have had the virus, so they stand at around 70 percent, which is good," Simonyte told journalists on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, younger people are in no hurry to get vaccinated, the prime minister said, stressing that vaccination among younger people will determine "how long we will be able to enjoy that green or not so dark colour (used to reflect the epidemiological situation – BNS)".

The number of COVID-19 hotspots in Lithuania has dropped by almost half over the past week and continues to decrease, according to the data reported by the National Public Health Center (NPHC) on Tuesday.

A comparison of trends observed on the COVID-19 hotspot map in late May and late June revealed that the number of active hotspots decreased by nearly 90 percent, i.e. from 386 at the end of May to 46 in late June, the center said.

There have also been no deaths from the coronavirus in Lithuania over the past several days.

The latest figures show 53.9 percent of people aged 80 and over have received at least one doze of a coronavirus vaccines, compared to 68.5 percent among those aged 75-79, 70.7 percent among those aged 70-74 and 69.2 percent among those aged 65-69.

The percentage stands at 57.1 percent among those aged 55-64, 59.6 percent among those aged 45-54, 48.8 percent among those aged 35-44, 41.9 percent among those aged 25-31, 39.7 percent among those aged 16-24, and 7.2 percent among those aged 12-15.