Doctors, SAZU and the Chamber of Commerce call for more vaccination when Slovenia is hit by the fourth wave
STA, 15 November 2021 – The Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) and representatives of the medical profession again called for vaccination on Monday, as the country is trying to increase the number of Covid beds during the severe fourth wave of the coronavirus epidemic. She also called on the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
SAZU believes that the situation is so severe that it requires immediate action by all residents to prevent a health catastrophe and many new, unnecessary deaths.
Academics thus urge all people to protect their own lives and the lives of others by taking all preventive measures.
In addition, they urge those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so and recommend booster vaccination.
Vaccines are effective, rarely causing severe side effects, while a vaccinated person is ten times less likely to develop a severe form of covida-19, the call said.
SAZU President Peter Štih said at a press conference in Ljubljana on Monday: “We are all aware of the seriousness of the situation.”
Minister of Health Janez Poklukar emphasized that vaccination was the only way out “of the unsustainable situation in which Slovenian healthcare found itself”.
In justifying science, he said it is the core of our civilization, while refusing to take us back to the Stone Age.
Immunologist Alojz Ihan gave some figures – if everyone in Slovenia were vaccinated, there would be 200 patients with covid in hospitals, if no one was vaccinated, there would be between 4,000 and 5,000.
Although it is best to be fully vaccinated, research shows that it is counted every day a person has been vaccinated before contracting the virus, he pointed out.
Marko Noč from the University Medical Center Ljubljana said that since the outbreak of the epidemic, 3,670 patients with covid have been treated in intensive care, and their mortality rate is around 50%.
“So if a patient with Covid ends up in intensive care, the chance of dying is 50 percent,” while the chance of needing intensive treatment is ten times less in the vaccinated, Noch said.
Virologist Tatjana Avšič Županc said that vaccination is important because history tells us that viruses whose only host is humans can only be eradicated by vaccination. She said the level of vaccination is also important to ensure that the virus does not remain widespread in society.
Tadej Battelino from the Pediatric Clinic of the University Medical Center Ljubljana also called on children to be vaccinated. In Slovenia, the age at which children can get a covid injection is 12 years.
In a separate call from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Aleš Cantarutti, CEO, called on companies to strictly monitor compliance with the PCT convalescence-tested and continue to encourage employees to vaccinate, while allowing remote work whenever possible.
“It is time for us as a society to act responsibly. Let us move away as a society and limit mutual contacts wherever possible. Only by joining forces and acting responsibly can we overcome the current wave of Covid-19,” he was quoted as saying. it is written in the press release of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Given what he described as “today’s alarming numbers,” Cantarutti said Sunday’s new infections were 530 higher than a week ago, and expressed sympathy with health workers. “It is imperative to show that we are a mature society that does not need government regulations to close public life and economic activity.”
Get all the latest information about COVID and Slovenia, in easy-to-read charts, here