Only 6% of Latvian population has got the first Covid jab

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Around 90,000 people have received the first dose of vaccine in Latvia, and nearly 20,000 have also received the second, Latvian Television reported March 24.

In order to achieve herd immunity, 60%-70% of Latvian adults should be vaccinated. Currently, only 6% of adults have received the first vaccine and a little more than 1% have received both.

Around 51,000 inhabitants of Latvia over 70 years of age have received the first shot, which is around 18% of the total population of this age group.

At present, the main problem is the lack of vaccines.

“The whole vaccination process would in principle be understandable, only there are no vaccines themselves. (...) We cannot do vaccination for three weeks, because there are no vaccines. These vaccines are, unfortunately, available only where they are available. We'll get the next on April 2. Because the supplies are cut, I know and understand that,” said family doctor Alise Nicmane-Aišpure.

Health Minister Daniels Pavļuts also agrees with the lack of vaccines. And the main reason is that promised supply volumes are declining all the time.

“It has been quite disappointing in the last two weeks, and AstraZeneca's projected volume has been reduced several times over the next week. In line with our initial plans and the manufacturer's promises, we were scheduled to receive 423,000 AstraZeneca vaccines so far. We have received 128,000, which is about 30% of what was originally promised,” Pavļuts said.

Source: Health Ministry

According to the European Centre for Disease Control, in neighboring Estonia around 16% of the population have got the first jab, whereas in Lithuania the figure is around 12%.

 

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