Mandatory vaccination ″ not the order of the day ″ in Portugal
The President of the Republic said this Thursday that mandatory vaccination against Covid-19, now being considered by several countries, is not an issue on the agenda in Portugal, which should be to pursue a “spontaneous, voluntary and massive” vaccination.
“I do not comment on the matter, because it is not an issue on the agenda. The issue on the agenda is vaccination, even if it is not mandatory, moving forward in force, and it is moving forward”, marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in a statement to press in Strasbourg, France, on the sidelines of a European tribute ceremony for former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing.
A day after the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, admitted a debate at the European Union level on mandatory vaccination against Covid-19, when 150 million people are not vaccinated and already more than five million due to the disease, the President da República noted that “this matter at European level is being debated and will be debated”, but Portugal should not wait for the conclusion of this debate.
“Let’s move forward with the spontaneous, voluntary, massive vaccination that we have had. Prevention is better than cure, and, as we move forward, we are anticipating what other countries still took time to discuss”, he pointed out.
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Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa revealed, by the way, that today he heard praise for the example of the vaccination campaign in Portugal from several European political personalities who participated in the ceremony in honor of Giscard d’Estaing, at the European Parliament, one year after the former’s death French President.
“Not long ago a bilateral meeting with the German President [Frank-Walter] Steinmeier and he praised the example of Portugal, now with the President of the European Parliament [David] Sassoli and Praised Portugal, the Greek President Praised Portugal, the President of Slovenia Praised Portugal, the Bulgarian President Praised Portugal, the President [francês Emmanuel] Macron praised Portugal. Why? Because we are on top of vaccinations. We started earlier, we are at the top and we want more. And they themselves feel that they need more and are having difficulties in their countries that luckily we don’t have,” he added.
Asked what Christmas can the Portuguese expect this year, he replied that he must “whoever they want” if he continues to be vaccinated and comply with health regulations.
“That is, they are willing, and rightly so, to be vaccinated. And if they continue to want to be vaccinated, if they adhere, as they have been, to vaccination, and if, at the same time, they respect health rules, fulfill a Christmas which is simultaneously open, but common sense. And it is this balance that is fundamental, “due.
Despite the increase in positive cases of Covid-19, the President of the Republic noted that the current situation has nothing to do with what Portugal experienced a year ago. The General Directorate of Health admitted that in the Christmas week, the number of new infections could reach eight thousand per day. These are numbers that do not alarm Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, revealing the difference compared to the year 2020.
“Eight thousand cases would still be far from what we experienced a year ago and, above all, with a big difference: a year ago we did not test what we are testing today”, underlined the President of the Republic.
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Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa warned that the numbers of hospitalized, intensive care and dead people are “a fifth, a sixth, an eighth compared to a year ago”. “It’s a different situation,” he said, highlighting the “massive adhesion of the Portuguese” to vaccination.
Finally, commenting on a new Ómicron variant, the President of the Republic pointed out that it is necessary to wait a little longer to gather the necessary information and act accordingly.
“It’s very simple: at this moment, we wait, and there are 15 days, to know the studies carried out in the laboratory, and common sense dictates that we wait for these studies to know what to do. But until then, we’ll trust that. what South African experts say, who have dealt with reality, “and according to which” there is a more intense contagion, but not a lethality, a higher mortality”.
“Let’s wait for the studies”, he concluded.
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