Covid-19. April 29

The final decision on the opportunity passport will be made at the government meeting on Monday.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė announced that the Lithuanian document would see the light of day before the EU certificate, but would later be integrated with it.

The Ministry of Economy and Innovation presented the idea of a passport last week.

The electronic document could be obtained by vaccinated people, those who have recovered from the virus or those who tested negative for it.

New batches of vaccines from three producers arrived in Lithuania on Thursday. A total of 110,400 doses have been delivered, which will be distributed to local governments within a few days, informs the Ministry of Health.

Earlier this week it became known that the Ministry of Healthcare had diverted a large part of the vaccines from the regions to the capital. This caused discontent among the mayors of smaller cities. Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė explained that it was because of the very bad epidemiological situation in Vilnius. She hopes that no more such decisions would have to be made.

Vaccines from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca arrived on Thursday. The company supplied the thirteenth and largest batch to date – 91,200 doses of the Vaxzevria vaccine. The manufacturer Moderna supplied 13,200 doses of the vaccine, and the manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceutica NV – 6,000.

To date, Lithuania has received over 1.1 million doses from all four manufacturers (EU recognized) of vaccine.

On Thursday, R. Šimašius again called the inhabitants of Vilnius for vaccinations on his Facebook profile. The mayor said the situation in the capital is “very difficult” and that the next two weeks, doctors say, “will be decisive.”

“Please – let’s not let it go too soon, examples from other countries show that the beginning of vaccination creates a premature illusion that we have already defeated the virus – then the third wave strikes,” wrote R. Šimašius.

“And if you are 55 or older, you can definitely get vaccinated. People in your age group account for more than half of patients in hospitals – do not take risks, get vaccinated. Next week, we will invite people aged 45+ for vaccinations. Let’s get together one last time and roll up our sleeves!” R. Šimašius urged to vaccinate.