Loncar reveals how many people who got vaccinated died: "No one guarantees this is the last wave"

Photo: Milena Djordjevic

Minister of Health Zlatibor Loncar stated last night that the epidemiological situation is better, but that there is no room for relaxation when more than 50 people are dying every day in Serbia from Covid.

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"The obligation of us doctors is not to give people a false hope or to relax too much because we doctors cannot relax when we have 50 dead a day and no one guarantees that this is the last wave and that the next one will not come," Loncar told RTS.

He said that the number of vaccinated people has increased, but that we should work on increasing the scope of vaccination.

"The number of vaccinated people has increased and it is simply our obligation to do everything to increase the scope of vaccination, so that is the essence of everything. No one made that decision about  (Covid) passes for their own reasons, but because people realized that it was the only way to increase the number of vaccinations. It happened here. We also had a result as a consequence of the extended school break - the number of sick children decreased by five times, as well as the number of examinations," the minister said.

Asked how many people who died had been vaccinated, he replied that according to preliminary results for the previous five months, there are slightly less than 9 percent of those who have been vaccinated among the victims.

"These are the ones who received one dose, or another, then they got sick after two or three days, and these are mostly people who have had other diseases," said Loncar.

Asked whether it is realistic to make Covid passes mandatory around the clock, he said that this will be discussed at the Crisis HQ.

"We will talk about that at the Crisis HQ, it's not right for us to talk here now and that doesn't make any sense. When the Crisis HQ mets, we will analyze the current situation. It's not about Covid passes, it's about wanting a safe atmosphere and safe facilities for everyone. And right now, the only thing that makes it possible are those passes. (Having) the pass means that either you have been vaccinated or you have been tested," noted Loncar.

Stevanovic: Influx of seriously sick people is not decreasing

Dr. Goran Stevanovic, director of the Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases of the University Clinical Center of Serbia (UKCS) said that the epidemiological situation is currently stable, that the pressure on hospitals is decreasing, that a balance has been established between the number of discharges and admissions and that the number of newly infected people and those coming for the first examination is declining.

"But, unfortunately, until we achieve an extremely high level of vaccination, i.e. protection, i.e. immunity against Covid, we will constantly have variable numbers, in some countries the numbers will calm down or decrease, fall, while in others they will grow, and we will be effectively spinning in one vicious circle for a longer or shorter time, which mainly depends on our individual attitude towards the virus," explained Stevanovic.

He said that we have to adapt to the new reality because we have a new virus, completely unknown to the health system and our immune system.

He added that the Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases is permanently used at 95 to more than 100 percent capacity.

"I say more than 100 percent of full capacity because in the moments when the system is overburdened and when new patients need to be accommodated, we put beds in some rooms that were not previously intended as patient rooms, such as dining rooms. We are a reception-triage place and most of the time the most seriously ill patients come to us, we send some to other Covid hospitals, but we also fill our capacities," Stevanovic explained.

He said that in the last two to three days, the pressure on the triage clinic has been reduced.

"The pressure is significantly lower in terms of the number of patients, but unfortunately the influx of seriously sick people is not decreasing, especially people who come for the first examination after ten days of feeling ill, some even in the second week of illness," explains Stevanovic.

He added that as long as we have a large number of people in intensive care units, as long as we have thousands of hospitalized people, while unfortunately there are 50 who die every day, we need to have strong measures that will reduce the further spread of the infection as much as possible.

He explained that there are those in hospitals who have received the vaccine, but says that the vaccines do not protect a person from getting sick, but from having severe forms of the illness and from dying.

The problem with all drugs that act to stimulate our immunity, added Stevanovic, is that they do not work equally for everyone.

"What the vaccines have brought to us is that people who have been vaccinated, who have some kind of immune status, have milder forms of the disease, even if they are fit for hospital treatment, it lasts much shorter, they are easier to treat, they are discharged faster and a much smaller percentage of them goes to intensive care units," said Stevanovic.

He added that, unfortunately, in seriously affected and chronic patients who have other diseases and are older, the vaccines do not achieve a good enough protective effect.

"What is unfortunately the situation with all diseases where we protect ourselves with vaccines is that people who are seriously and chronically ill, who have other diseases and are elderly, who suffer from immune system damage, malignant diseases, unfortunately vaccines do not achieve good protective effect in them. Secondly, we cannot expect that a person who received only one dose of the vaccine or received another dose a day or two before they became ill will enjoy a full protective effect, it practically means that they got vaccinated during the incubation period," explained Stevanovic.

"But what is a fact is that people who are in intensive care units and are vaccinated are in most cases severely chronically ill patients and that their underlying diseases are quite sufficient for them to unfortunately be in intensive care, and most likely could not get all the examinations done precisely because our hospitals are overcrowded with patients," explained Stevanovic.

Tiodorovic: We have to be careful, three reasons for concern

The number of vaccinated people in Nis has increased, especially among young people. Since the introduction of Covid passes, the population aged 18 to 30 has started to get vaccinated in larger numbers, now close to 55% of them have been vaccinated. The total number of vaccinated residents of Nis is almost 70 percent. After two and a half months, for the first time yesterday, the number of new cases was in the double digits.

Epidemiologist and member of the Crisis HQ Dr. Branislav Tiodorovic has told RTS that there must be only cautious optimism.

"We must be aware that there are three reasons. The first - a natural process takes place and has the characteristic of cyclic development. Secondly, the Covid passes have surely worked. Over 53 percent of vaccinated young people in Nis means that Covid passes work. Third, when people are scared, measures are respected more. For example, in city transport, there is almostnobody who is not waring a mask, in shopping malls, Covid stewards do their job," said Tiodorovic.

Still, he added, there are three reasons for concern.

"First it's family patron saint day celebrations (slava). I appeal on all our Serb hosts to celebrate at home. Another danger is Black Friday, for it not to be too black, to implement and respect the measures. The third thing is New Year's Eve. I can't support big music festivities that young people and others need to relax, but how will you control that mass in the squares. Will you be able to use Covid passes here, I don't think that will happen," Tiodorovic remarked.

When asked about the Delta Plus strain, he said that it will be even more present.

"We can expect that Delta Plus will be even more present, as we see in Europe, this is happening very significantly. Those countries that were relatively stable, such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Hungary, have a serious increase in new cases and deaths. So we can expect that there will still be the possibility of strain mutation as long as there is such a large percentage of unvaccinated people," said Tiodorovic.

He stressed that we must use this period of calming down to increase the coverage of vaccination as much as possible.

He explained that he is in favor of mandating Covid passes around the clock.

"That will bring us to a much better place, for the New Year and Christmas to be nicer for us, and for us to enter the new year as safely and as relaxed as possible," Tiodorovic stressed.

Asked whether regular corona vaccination will become a reality, he replied:

"We must first be aware that this virus has not lost its power. It has characteristics that have been unknown before. So it's necessary to think about the fourth dose of the vaccine, and at least two doses a year should be planned."

Asked if there had been any new incidents after the gathering in front of his apartment, he said that there weren't and that he is able move freely around the city.

(Telegraf.rs)