Lengvarský expects the peak of the fourth wave of the pandemic at the turn of January and February – SME.sk

BRATISLAVA. Minister of Health Vladimir Lengvarsky (nominee OĽANO) expects the peak of the fourth wave of the new pandemic coronavirus will be in Slovakia at the turn of January and February.

It will be caused by a new one omicron variant. As he said in the balance sheet interview for TASR, he does not expect that the state of emergency in Slovakia will have to be extended.

Insufficient vaccination

According to him, the current information that the minister has says that the speed of the spread of the omicron will be very high. He admitted that there is still little data available for this variant.

“But what we do know is that our population is not vaccinated enough. This means that the sensitivity of a large part of the population, especially the elderly, is high, whether on the delta or on the omicron. There is a risk of filling hospitals.”

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He expects that since omicron will affect a large number of people in a short time. It can affect, for example, health professionals or critical infrastructure. He fears that all the activities the state needs to function will be jeopardized by a large number of people becoming ill at once.

According to the minister, studies available to current experts show that vaccination with the third dose against COVID-19 protects 90 percent. The first dose of the vaccine will boost immunity.

“If someone has more than three months after the second dose, let them have a third. That protection should be there. When someone observes what he has, ie comes by car, registers at the e-border, is vaccinated, stays for a few days at home quarantine, he’ll do a PCR test, so I don’t think the measures need to be changed in any drastic way. “

There is also a risk that measures will be tightened

The Minister thinks that the Slovaks have largely understood the need to protect themselves, their family and, indirectly, the health care system. He fears that with the huge increase in omicron infections, measures may need to be tightened, but not in the long term.

Lengvarský reminded that the airlines had to check the people traveling to Slovakia before the holidays so that they would board the plane with a PCR test. According to the Minister, the spread of the omicron is so fast that it cannot be prevented even by tracing.

If available vaccinesthat would be specifically designed for omikron variants, the ministry plans to purchase them.

The minister pointed out that Pfizer was already preparing a special vaccine for omicron. Deliveries could be in the summer of next year. The ministry regularly communicates with the European Commission, which negotiates vaccines on behalf of European countries.

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