Doctors and rights defenders decide to convince the Armenian residents of vaccination safety

Overcoming the COVID-19 epidemic is possible only with the help of vaccinations; and for this, we should convince the population of the vaccine safety, Armenian experts assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Armenia is under the third wave of coronavirus – the number of active patients has been steadily growing since February 12. The reason for the third coronavirus wave in Armenia was the weakening of quarantine and non-compliance with the anti-epidemic measures; a mass vaccination is needed, epidemiologists insist.

On April 2, the Yerevan "Media Centre" Club of Public Journalism hosted a discussion on the topic: "Vaccination against COVID-19 with scandalous 'AstraZeneca' vaccine begins: to get vaccinated or not?" the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has reported.

Initially, the COVAX platform offered the Armenian party to purchase the "Pfizer" vaccine, but due to the specifics of its storage, Armenia opted for the "AstraZeneca" vaccine, said Romella Abovyan, representative of the country's Ministry of Public Health.

David Melik-Nubaryan, a Senior Lecturer at the Division of Public Health of the Yerevan State Medical University, believes that it will not be possible to overcome the COVID-19 epidemic without a vaccine. "Vaccination is a long and the only way to overcome the epidemic," the university lecturer is sure.

Violeta Zopunyan, the head of the Centre for Law Development, has noted that two main opinions regarding the vaccine prevail in the society. "One group trusts the vaccine and is waiting for its appearance, while the second is categorically disposed and would not receive any information about the vaccine," she said.

In her opinion, in order to change the attitude towards the vaccine in the society, "you need to constantly inform them; and you need to disseminate scientifically grounded facts." "For an efficient fight against the epidemic, competent informational work is necessary," Ms Zopunyan has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 3, 2021 at 02:06 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.