Pandemic figures in Albania speak of a momentary calm, but this is not a guarantee for the coming months. This is the opinion of the Deputy Minister of Health, Mira Rakacolli, who was invited to A2 to talk about the current situation in the country.
“Fortunately, Albania is in a good situation and relatively calm, with constant figures. But the situation in the region is not in this kind of calm. While Albania is at security level 1, the best, Greece is at level 3 and Croatia is in zone 4. Some countries have started to grow, like the United Kingdom, so there is a kind of unrest in the epidemiology in the region.
But is this situation a consequence of the distribution of the Delta variant, or is it a reversal of the previous variant. “Of course mutations have a role to play, but that’s not all. Vaccination has disrupted the transmission chain, but it is not yet known how long immunity from the vaccine will last, or even immunity from the disease itself.
It will be eternal as with measles or there will be an expiration date. These are the things that autumn and winter will teach us. We must continue to maintain this situation, being alert, without returning to the normality we had 2 years ago “, says Rakacolli, who adds that in any case the increase of tourists who may come from problematic places will not affect the change of measures in power.
The Deputy Minister also talks about a phenomenon that sees a contraction in the pace of vaccination. “There is a kind of hesitation in vaccination. There is hesitation everywhere in the world, ranging from no-vax movements. I think that in Albania they have simply lost their vigilance and they think that they do not need the vaccine or they think that they can do it later, to prepare for the autumn. But citizens must believe in vaccination, once the decision has been made to enter the market, that is, detailed studies have been done. “All the vaccines we have are effective.”
This also applies to the Chinese vaccine. “We have the efficiency data. Sinovac is a vaccine based on deactivated virus, which definitely boosts immunity. Its efficiency for serious cases and avoidance of death is 100%, let’s not forget that it is also used by health personnel “, explains Rakacolli.
