The mandatory vaccination of the health workers and the public administration workers in North Macedonia is something that will not be implemented for the time being, because we reached a conclusion that it will open serious issues regarding how someone that opposes the vaccination process will be sanctioned, Health Minister of North Macedonia, Venko Filipche, says.
“Therefore we shall wait and see what the reach of the vaccination that is going through the primary care physicians will be. They are the first in touch with the patients. I consider this measure with the stimulation of 30 MKD per patient that will be vaccinated to be well dimensioned and considered, and I think it can be implemented. The doctors themselves should be aware of how important it is to increase the reach of the vaccination,” said the minister.
He said that the financial reimbursement will be on a one-time basis and will be granted at the start of the summer on basis of the achieved results.
“The largest number of patients that a primary care physician can have is 2 500 and the average is around 1 000, and this is not a sum that should be disregarded. It is very important for the doctors to understand that this is important for the citizens, the state and the health system. In some of the cities, this percentage of 70% has already been reached,” said Filipche.
Filipche said that the implementation of new restrictive measures, meaning movement restrictions in a situation when we have a reach close to 50% is less likely to be implemented as an option.
“It is important to increase the reach through these types of pleas. On the other hand, what will happen with the workers who don’t want to vaccinate themselves, but also cannot bear the financial burden? Their companies will have to fire those workers. This is the reason why we should issue a plea for them to vaccinate themselves,” said the minister.
Filipche informed that the DNA analyses of the passengers who got killed in the bus accident in Bulgaria are soon to be finished and then transportation of the bodies will be organized.
He also informed that the Public Health Institute is making an analysis regarding the importance of chronic diseases and COVID since a large part of the high mortality rates are due to chronic diseases. He said that this situation will be examined and on basis of the findings, the repercussions from COVID will be examined as well.
