PM Kariņš: Latvia has to plan Covid-19 vaccine boosters

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The Ministry of Health should start planning a Covid-19 vaccine booster, Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš (New Unity) said on April 6 after the government meeting, Latvian Television reported.

The Prime Minister said it is clear a booster shot to maintain immunity against Covid-19 will be needed next year.

"It is clear that sooner or later, after a half-year or a year or longer, we will also need to go through the second vaccination. Either that would be to strengthen the immunity that people would have acquired, or to possibly protect themselves from future new variations of the virus. Seeing that planning can never [start] too early, the Ministry of Health should also start thinking about the next step," said Kariņš.

The Prime Minister also said the pace should be quicker and nobody who would like to get vaccinated can go without a vaccine.

“We must not lose any people who want to be vaccinated against Covid-19 because of a communication error or bad planning,” he said.

Since an agreement has been reached at European Union level on the reallocation of 400,000 Pfizer/BioNTech doses for Latvia in the second quarter, the amount of vaccines will not be the biggest problem, as it has been until now. Karins also said that the redistribution of vaccines would have largely corrected the mistake made by the Ministry of Health initially when ordering supplies.

According to Kariņš, there must also be a "live queue" to ensure the continuity of vaccination. However, Minister of Health has stated previously that it is too soon for such a step.

 

 

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