Time has come when there should be only two groups - those who want to get vaccinated, and those who do not want it - Zatlers

RIGA - In order to speed up vaccination against Covid-19, the time has come where there should be only two groups of people - those who want to get vaccinated, and those who do not want it, said ex-president Valdis Zatlers in an interview with the Latvian public television today.

In his opinion, the priority group principle should be dropped. Those people who want to receive Covid-19 vaccines should be given this opportunity as soon as possible, and those who do not want it, should be left alone in hope that they might change their minds some time.

"The main thing is to give the green light to those who want to receive the vaccines in order to reach a higher share of vaccinated people as soon as possible. The priority groups should  be protected, but also those people who are socially active should get vaccines," said Zalters.

He said that the vaccination process might change all the time and the government should be ready to react to what is happening with the virus and how the public opinion changes.

Zatlers believes that those family physicians who are ready and willing to vaccinate their patients should be supported and given more vaccines. "They know their patients, they will be able to tell who should  and who should not be vaccinated," said Zalters.

As reported, on Wednesday, 5,470 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 on Wednesday, which is the highest number this week, according to the National Health Service data.

To date, a total of 163,419 people have received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine in Latvia, and 26,727 people have received both doses.

According to the data of the Central Statistical Bureau, on January 1, 2021, Latvia had a provisional population of 1.894 million, so 8.63 percent of the population have received the first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 and 1.41 percent of the population have received both doses.