Amiran Gamkrelidze speaks about COVID-19 and today’s situation in the country
By Anastasia Sokhadze
Tuesday, October 20
As the head of the Center for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze stated at a press conference at the Government’s Administration, the epidemic in the world is in a warming phase and won’t end ‘in a couple of months.’ As he stated after the meeting of the Interagency Coordination Council, the country is facing a relatively difficult late autumn and winter.
“We all have to go through this together, with the right prevention mechanisms and management. We have said many times that nothing defends better than a mask. We have to keep our distance. Despite this, there are still gatherings after 20:00 PM in Mtskheta. We are playing with fire. If we follow all these rules, we will get rid of this epidemic with relatively less loss,” stated Gamkrelidze.
Despite the recent increase in the number of infected people, the total number of active cases in Georgia is not as large as in many European countries.
Gamkrelidze also spoke about the flu vaccine. According to him, the rate of absorption of the first batch of flu vaccine is low. Accordingly, 25 thousand vaccines have already been received, which are distributed in clinics.
“The flu vaccine is not mandatory in any country. This is for reference only. If this is possible, we all recommend flu vaccination, but we must keep in mind that flu vaccination is not as effective as measles, polio, tetanus vaccination. You may be vaccinated, but it still develops. Its protection capacity is in the range of 60-75%.”
The largest group of these confirmed cases, these are 581 symptomatic patients and contacts. On October 19th, 1,186 new cases and 7 deaths were reported.
