Free Covid-19 vaccinations will be available this season to all Lithuanian residents, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
“An updated Covid-19 vaccine has been delivered to Lithuania, and our plan is to make it accessible to residents aged six months and older,” Jurgita Pakalniskienė, adviser at the ministry’s Health Promotion Division, told the parliamentary Committee on Health Affairs.
The ministry intends to unveil its vaccination strategy to the public in late September.
The authorities would consider declaring an epidemic on a national or municipal level if the cumulative incidence of flu, Covid-19 and colds exceeds 1,500 cases per 100,000 people in a week, and if coronavirus and flu patients occupy over 1,500 hospital beds and 120 or more ICU beds for more than a week.
Preventive measures during an epidemic would include strengthened controls in health and social care facilities, event restrictions, an infection control regime, and recommendations to work remotely and use personal protective equipment.
Pakalniskienė said Covid-19 is not expected to reach the incidence levels observed during the first year of the pandemic.
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals stands at 35, including two ICU cases, according to official statistics as of Wednesday morning.
The 14-day primary infection rate has risen to 67.8 cases per 100,000 people, with the seven-day percentage of positive tests at 23.3 percent.
The Health Ministry has registered an uptick in daily Covid-19 cases in the past few weeks.
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