Serbians are preparing for vacation, and Dr. Kon warns: We're entering tourism period, virus will circulate

Photo: Tanjug/Strahinja Acimovic

Crisis HQ member epidemiologist Predrag Kon has told RTS that the epidemiological situation is good after the holidays. He said that we are entering the tourism period, as well as that our citizens will travel, but also that foreigners will come to Serbia, that the virus will certainly circulate and that we should be careful. He pointed out that it is not true that we do not have anti-epidemiological measures, but that they have been reduced to a strong recommendation.

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Predrag Kon said that the holidays are over and that somewhat higher epidemiological numbers were registered yesterday compared to May 2.

"But the percentage of positives is lower, which is certainly good. These holidays went well, the epidemiological situation is stable," Kon added.

He pointed out that it is not true that we do not have anti-epidemiological measures, but they have been reduced to a strong recommendation.

"It should be distinguished whether something has been completely abolished or not. It is also obligatory to wear masks in healthcare institutions. That creates problems with patients in some health institutions, where they persistently refuse to put on a mask when they enter," says Kon.

He said that we are entering the tourism period, as well as that our citizens will travel, but foreigners will also come to Serbia.

"There will certainly be circulation, it used to be thought that the circulation of the virus in that summer period was almost impossible to raise that wave, but experience has shown us for the first and second time that it has a seasonal character, but that it is not so visible," stressed Kon.

He says that the approach in China is extreme and, in his opinion, completely inapplicable in our conditions, as well as that they still have a completely quarantine type of lockdowns.

He added that the question is how necessary that is, because it is becoming increasingly clear that Omicron mutates very quickly, as well as that it already appears in five subvariants.

"All of them can skip immunity, which is very interesting - both immunity from having had the disease and the vaccine. The vaccine cannot be as effective as it was in the beginning, so if you follow these subvariants, the vaccine had less effectiveness with each one," said Kon.

He stressed that they expect that with the new vaccines that will appear before the fall, there will be an appropriate recommendation for vaccination.

Kon explained that the fourth dose is now recommended to those over 60, but also to the immunocompromised - those who are receiving some therapy or are diabetics, on hemodialysis, as well as to oncology patients.

"Most likely, the vaccine will change somehow, for now we do not have clear signals that this is exactly in sight. It is expected in the fall," adds Kon.

He pointed out that the WHO cannot be expected to announce that the pandemic is over, because there are parts of the world where the situation is serious, while in other parts it is calmer.

"We are now in a situation where vaccination should be strongly recommended, because we still have half of the population unvaccinated, it is much better in cities than in rural areas," says Kon.

He believes that coronavirus will be present for years to come, but not to the extent that it has been so far.

"We will have problems with coronavirus," concluded Kon and added that we will see if the vaccine will be administered annually, as a seasonal type.

(Telegraf.rs)