With almost 1000 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Albania on Wednesday (7 July) the authorities have stepped up their recommendations and warnings to the public, leading to more calls for vaccination, in particular those who have not started or completed the cycle.
Yesterday, the Technical Committee of Experts recommended that those with three doses get the fourth dose, those with two doses, get the third, and those who have not completed two doses yet, to do so. They warned of an increase in hospitalisations, mainly of those who are not vaccinated at all or completely.
Head of the Technical Committee Mira Rakacolli said that the current increase is not due to reduced measures, but rather a lack of vaccination.
“We are in the third year which shows that the virus is not stopped even by high temperatures. This is the trend of the whole world. Cases have increased worldwide. We said that the pandemic is not over, and this increase also shows that,” she said.
She added, “protection from vaccination is not permanent. Booster doses should be done. If we had a high level of vaccination at the beginning, we did not do the booster doses, the 3rd and 4th dose. But this was not implemented even though the Albanians have available in their health centers the 1 and 2 vaccine as well as the booster. The virus that emerges from unvaccinated people is more contagious and reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine.”
Rakacolli added that the virus is not impacted by high temperatures and the pandemic is far from over. She also noted that Omicron has five variants that are more resistant than the initial virus.
In conclusion, she said that not only must people get vaccinated but they should wear masks inside closed spaces to prevent the spread of the virus. It was also suggested that mandatory mask wearing could be on the agenda in the future.
