Covid-19. May 17

Today (May 17), electronic registration through a nationwide system for vaccination against COVID-19 was announced.

Also, from May 17, the hotline 1808, will answer questions about the vaccination process and offer assistance for in registering for vaccination in the event of failure of self-registration.

With the general Lithuanian registration for vaccination from May 17, a new age group will be included in the vaccination process – residents aged 45-54. Inhabitants on the priority group list but not yet vaccinated are invited to be vaccinated at any time.

The national 1808 vaccination registration line has been inundated by callers since the morning. It has been estimated that about 400 people are trying to get through the phone in one second.

In some cases, it may take up to 30 minutes to answer the phone.

As the line coordinator Nerijus Mikelionis said, even twice as many employees can only serve a small number of interested parties.

From today, 120 employees work on the phone in shifts. Another 120 people are expected to be employed this week.

UK Health Minister Matt Hancock said COVID-19 vaccines were likely to be effective in preventing the Indian variant of the coronavirus, but it could spread “like fire” among those who are not vaccinated.

The Indian variant, he said, may be spreading faster than the British variant, which was detected in Kent late last year and caused a very large increase in winter infections, and is already becoming dominant in some parts of the country, such as Bolton and Blackburn in the North West of England.