Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan chaired a meeting to discuss the epidemiological situation in Armenia, measures to prevent its spread, and the vaccination process.

Addressing the meeting, Nikol Pashinyan stated:
“Dear Colleagues,

Unfortunately, the new type of coronavirus has not yet been overcome globally. On the contrary, we are seeing new outbreaks and even alarming increases in the death toll in different countries.

In general, the epidemiological situation has in recent months been under control in the Republic of Armenia. We boast quite a low rate of daily infections as compared to the ones that used to be registered formerly. True, we even had such days when no one died from coronavirus; there have had no such situations for a long time, which is indeed gratifying in itself.

But now we have to focus on what we have to do ahead, what we need to do so that we do not go back to the statistics of July to December, 2020, and January 2021. First, we have taken steps to increase the number of vaccinations.

Our main concern initially was to get the vaccines we needed, but as time went on, our agenda seemed to change. Now we have a problem with getting the right amount of vaccines. In other words, there should be a public mood aimed at vaccination, which, admittedly, is not expressed on a practical level.

At this point of time we have some 80,000 vaccinated citizens, which is a very small number, and we must be able to solve this problem. Extensive work needs to be done to bring these indicators to a proper level, first of all in the field of public relations. I am pleased to note that 80,000 safe vaccinations came to testify that the atmosphere of mistrust and fears that was being fostered from the outset was groundless as we did not have any post-vaccination complications.

Nevertheless, I should note that it would not change our attitude to the overall process in any way. After all, let us make it clear that even the simplest medical intervention can lead to complications with certain percentage, even complications resulting in death, but this does not mean that we should stop providing medical care altogether or wage a campaign against the healthcare system.

I have set a task to record the current situation based on our past experience and plan our future actions in order to manage the epidemiological situation as effectively as possible. In the meantime, it should be stressed that conceptually the threshold is not so high, and the entire world eventually came to the conclusion that we need to learn to live in parallel with the epidemic.

We see developed countries where there are new manifestations of outbreaks. In the meantime, they declare that they are going to remove the planned restrictions, because they have realized that there is no alternative. Countries, even the developed ones, cannot continue to live in a locked-down state for 3 years in a row as they have no sufficient resources for that.

Looking back, we can say that conceptually we understood the situation correctly, and we have made the right decisions. Of course, we have had many problems in terms of discipline. We sometimes wear a mask, sometimes not during our meetings. Today’s consultation should first of all make people realize that the proposed safety rules should be observed so that our messages are visible to the public at large and we do not weaken our vigilance in any way.”

Acting Healthcare Minister Anahit Avanesyan presented the epidemiological situation as of June 30, 2021: 225095 cases of infection were registered, 2704 people (1.2%) received treatment, 216718 people (96.3%) recovered, 4514 people (2%) died and 1099 people died of other causes. According to Avanesyan, the current situation is manageable and Armenia is in the “green” zone according to EU standards, but the comparison of the last 14 days shows that there is an increase in Covid-19 cases and preventive measures are aimed at maintaining the situation.

With reference to the vaccination process, the Acting Minister said that to date, the number of vaccinations against Covid-19 has reached 80 thousand, no deaths have been registered. There are sufficient supplies of different vaccines in Armenia, with a new batch of World Health Organization-approved vaccines due to be imported in the near future. Ms. Avanesyan stressed that being infected once nay not safeguard against re-infection and people need to be vaccinated to protect themselves against Covid-19.

Comparing the statistics of coronavirus infection and vaccination results, Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan noted that out of 80,000 vaccinations carried out to date, we have no complications, while of 80,000 infected patients 1,600 have died. This comes to testify that vaccination is the most effective way to fight coronavirus, and the government’s policy should be aimed at increasing the number of vaccinations.

Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian supported this remark, stressing that public awareness has to be raised to stimulate the vaccination process. He noted that the public administration system and medical institutions should be at the forefront of this process.

The meeting discussed issues related to the ongoing vaccination process, the observance of safety rules and the steps to boost economic and tourist activities.

Emphasizing the need for close interagency cooperation, Nikol Pashinyan instructed the Ministry of Healthcare to discuss the ideas and proposals voiced during the meeting and develop model solutions. The Acting Premier reiterated that consistent efforts should be made to popularize vaccination against Covid-19. In this context, the heads of the agencies concerned were given specific assignments with a clear-cut timetable and indicators.