Covid-19, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Good for Business, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Medicine

He informed that the government had heard a report prepared by the Ministry of Health on the vaccination strategy against Covid-19. According to the Prime Minister, the news about the vaccine against Covid-19 is promising, as several drug manufacturers have applied to the European Medicines Agency for the approval of the vaccines.

Karins admitted that vaccination against Covid-19 in Latvia could start in January, however, it is expected that more extensive vaccination could take place six months after receiving the first vaccines. He stressed that the state will buy these vaccines and provide them to the population free of charge.

The Prime Minister called on the public to protect themselves and others until more extensive vaccination opportunities are possible in Latvia.

The vaccination of Latvia's population against Covid-19 is expected to cost EUR 26.7 million in 2021, according to the Health Ministry's estimates. 

The estimated sum would include delivery, logistics and inoculation costs but not the price of the vaccine itself, and the government plans to cover these costs with  money from the budget program Funds for Unforeseen Events.

The government at an extraordinary meeting today reviewed the Health Ministry's report on the Covid-19 vaccination strategy. In many European countries, work is already under way to prepare infrastructure for the vaccination campaign, so that it can start without a delay as soon as the vaccines are available. The Health Ministry's report suggests that in Latvia practical preparation works are still in the process. 

According to the Health Ministry, issues related to procurement procedures still have to be solved to ensure the storage of the vaccines, as well as logistics services. The functionality of Latvia's e-health system has to be enhanced so that data on vaccinations and their effectiveness could be entered into the system. 

To ensure the vaccination process, visits are being planned to care homes, schools and workplaces of rescue and law enforcement employees, said Health Ministry spokesman Oskars Sneiders, adding that medics would be vaccinated at healthcare institutions. 

Asked to specify who will be tasked with carrying out the vaccination, the ministry explained that the plan is to involve private services provides in the process. "Taking into consideration the scale of the vaccination campaign, various institutions will be involved in the process," including medical institutions, family physicians and outpatient clinics, Sneiders said.

The National Health Service has so far concluded agreements for the supply of vaccines against Covid-19 with four potential suppliers: AstraZeneca, Johnson&Johnson, BionTech/Phizer, as well as CureVac. None of these pharmaceutical companies has completed the registration of their vaccines. 

The Health Ministry indicated that at this stage it is not yet possible to determine which of the new vaccines will be the safest and most effective and which will become available first. The amount of vaccines Latvia might receive from these suppliers would be sufficient to vaccinate around one million people in Latvia.