“The coronavirus situation remains tense, but stable. Around 800-1,000 cases are registered daily in our country, and the number of deaths is more than 10 per day. The rate of infection reproduction is more than 1 percent, which means that this trend will continue in the near future,” said Gayane Sahakyan, the deputy director of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health and the head of the National Immunization Program.
Sahakyan said at the Armenpress press hall that hospitals continue to be overburdened with work. A large number of medical facilities have been reprofiled to provide medical care to people infected with the coronavirus. According to her, if there is a sharp turn and the number of cases increases again, the number of reprofiled medical institutions will also increase.
Gayane Sahakyan said that the process of vaccination against the coronavirus has begun in Armenia. Soon, Armenia will acquire a new batch of the vaccine, which is the product of the Chinese Sinopharm company.
As of April 28th, 2,641 doses of the vaccine have been administered throughout the country.
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“No serious problems have been registered among any citizens who have been vaccinated,” Sahakyan said. She also said that 1.1 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide in 170 countries, and the majority was conducted with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
She said that outpatient clinics will also work on Saturdays and Sundays. The risk groups will be vaccinated in the first stage, and the other groups will be vaccinated in the second stage. “All citizens over the age of 18 can be vaccinated with AstraZeneca, and the most vulnerable groups between 18 and 54 years old will be vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine.”
According to Sahakyan, citizens can get vaccinated at clinics of their choice. They simply need to register beforehand. Foreign citizens who have residency in Armenia can also get vaccinated.
Gayane Sahakyan said that even after people are vaccinated, they need to maintain pandemic measures. “People forget to maintain safety measures after they are vaccinated, thinking that they are properly defended, but it takes at least a month after getting vaccinated for the immune system to function and develop antibodies. No examinations are necessary prior to vaccination.”
As far as how long the immune system will be able to defend against the coronavirus after getting vaccinated, the expert said that the time periods are not clear yet.
Lusine Budaghyan
