"No room for euphoria, but there is for optimism": Djerlek's forecast for this year and the 4th wave

Photo: Tanjug/Tara Radovanovic

The only way to ensure a calmer summer is to vaccinate more than 50 percent of adult citizens against coronavirus by June, State Secretary in the Ministry of Health Mirsad Djerlek said today and added that he is in favor of introducing new models to stimulate vaccination.

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Djerlek told K1 television that, according to the latest data from last night, 2,561,520 adult citizens have received the first dose of the vaccine, 2,066,153 the second, while a total of more than 4,620,000 doses have been administered.

He said that having more than 50 percent of those vaccinated is not collective immunity, but that it means establishing control over the epidemic.

"The relaxing of measures is one of the positive signals that we are establishing control. There is no room for euphoria, but there is room for optimism," said Djerlek, Tanjug reported.

He said that at this moment, the numbers and the situation are quite bearable, but that he is always careful in his forecasts.

"I am waiting for the fall, I think that in the fall we will have more data and courage to say what awaits us by the end of the year," stated Djerlek.

Regarding the announcement of the World Health Organization that the fourth wave of the epidemic will appear in some countries, Djerlek said that he is sure that we will avoid that fourth wave, considering the large number of vaccinated people.

"We can expect that, even if it appears, it cannot be as intense as it was before," said Djerlek.

He stressed that the vaccination of young people is a key factor in achieving collective immunity, and stated that a decision will be made in the next few weeks about the possible vaccination of children aged between 12 and 15, which is only being discussing for now.

Regarding claims that 80 percent of children in Serbia have had coronavirus, Djerlek said that he is bothered by the fact that we are presenting serious data lightly, while that such claims require a serious and large study that would prove them.

He supported introducing new models to stimulate vaccination, saying that young people are interested in certain events, but also travel, and that vouchers that would help them travel should be considered.

"We are trying not to discriminate, we want to introduce new models to promote vaccination, because without that we cannot easily reach the goal. This is what the whole world is doing," said Djerlek, who is also president of the National Immunization Coordination Body.

(Telegraf.rs)