Nearly 13,000 citizens received a COVID-19 shot until Monday, and except for two cases of collapse, which are not linked to the vaccine but probably due to anxiety and panic attacks, no other side effects have been recorded here at the Boris Trajkovski Sports Hall, Health Minister Venko Filipche said Tuesday.
He added that the 28-year-old girl who recently reported a thrombotic event after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, is stable and discharged from hospital on Tuesday.
As regards those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine so far, the Health Minister pointed out there’s no recommendation that anything needs to be done after receiving the vaccine in terms of prevention or checkups.
“The same goes for all vaccines. I have no information that any of the healthcare workers, who had received a COVID-19 shot, has contracted the virus after vaccination,” said Filipche.
According to him, data available so far show that over 90 percent of all healthcare workers who are in direct contact with COVID-19 patients have already received a shot and booster dose.
In general, he added, about 20 percent of citizens who have made a vaccination appointment don’t report to the vaccination site.
“Out of nearly 2,800 citizens with vaccination appointments on Monday, 2,500 have received a vaccine,” Filipche said.
As regards vaccination of police and army members, Filipche said there was considerable interest and according to availability of vaccines, priority groups within the Army and the police will be those who are most exposed and have the most contacts during the day.
He noted that employees in other institutions, including the ministry of Labor and Social Policy, the Ministry of Education and Science – for teachers in first to third grades, as well as preschool employees, who are over 50 and with certain comorbidities, also register for vaccination.
Apart from certain information on social networks, Filipche said so far there has been no major anti-vaccine campaign.
“I urge citizens to be aware that this is the only weapon we have to change the image of the pandemic. Not just here in our country, but everywhere in the world. All vaccines are safe. In case of doubts, we urge caution and wait for appropriate recommendations and opinions. This is the only thing we can do to protect our health,” Filipche said.
