He said that though there is currently an increase in Covid-19 infection in Latvia, there is no reason to raise alarm from the point of view of the healthcare system. At present, the national task is to prepare for any Covid-19 distribution scenario in the autumn, but there is no reason to believe that severe restrictions should be introduced in the autumn or something should be closed, said Pavluts, adding that such decisions are not possible at the moment because no one knows what the virus will be like.
He said that, at the moment, Moderna had developed adapted or improved vaccines against Covid-19, which would be effective not only against the original type of Covid-19 virus, but also against Omicron base variant BA1. According to him, the vaccine has been tested, and is undergoing the registration process in the European Medicines Agency, and Latvia had applied for these adapted vaccines in the autumn.
“We are planning a more active phase of vaccination in September, October, regardless of the Covid-19 scenario, as we are planning, in any case, to provide this vaccination to risk groups, elderly people, and people with poor health. Then we could use these adapted vaccines accordingly," said the minister.
He expressed hope that vaccines could be delivered to European Union Member States, including Latvia, in August or September.
