„Doctors are tired of exhausting work. The population is tired of pandemic stress and uncertainty. The solution to getting out of uncertainty is one – the rapid vaccination of all. Perhaps we are now at the decisive point of transforming our attitude towards this process. A kind of metamorphosis of the vaccination campaign will help us transform the lives of all the people of Moldova and start on a positive path of evolution and change. Maybe this metamorphosis will determine our near future?! ... "
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I'm tired of writing about COVID-19. Pandemic fatigue has also reached this area of my work. But something came up that led me to write this editorial.
News 1
This week came an official news from Germany, from the Federal Ministry of Interior, Construction and Internal Affairs, which in a press release, among other things, announced:
'14 days after receiving the last required vaccination dose, third-country residents may enter the country for any permitted purpose if the general legal requirements for residence are met. Tourist visits and entrances will be possible again for vaccinated people"
What does this mean for the citizens of the Republic of Moldova? A positive example determined by the importance of vaccination to travel to any country in the world.
Moldova is not an EU member state, so we are a third country. Moldovan citizens who received both doses of the vaccine will be able to enter Germany in 14 days after receiving the last dose of the vaccine.
News 2
A poll presented in Moldova on Monday tells us that more than 50% of the adult population does not want to vaccinate against COVID-19. I intentionally mentioned – the adult population, because 50% of the adult population is less than 50% of the general population. There are those who have not yet turned 18, and who remain unvaccinated for various reasons. So, in the amount we have more than half of the population of the country, which cannot be vaccinated for reasons of reluctance or other reasons. What stands is a major risk factor now, because every unvaccinated person is a potential victim of the virus in the coming months.
News 3
In Russia is the second week an explosion of new cases of COVID-19, caused by the Indian strain Delta, which is believed to have undergone new mutations, creating a Delta strain of Russia. The authorities of some regions have made vaccination compulsory for certain categories of citizens, following a recent conclusion of the ECHR, such as that compulsory vaccination does not present a violation of human rights.
The Delta strain is highly contagious, with a contagiousness coefficient equal to 8 and a more aggressive clinic of the disease. This strain affects young people and children more, especially unvaccinated children.
This news prompted my decision to write a new material about the pandemic and the effects of our non-vaccination.
Why are this news important?
European countries will open the borders for vaccinated people, inclusively from such countries as Moldova. It is not enough to have a vaccination certificate from Moldova to enter Germany. Moldova must still be a country at low pandemic risk. That means we must have fewer than 50 cases per 100,000 population per last 28 days. If the number of cases increases in Moldova, the exception, now applied to citizens from the UK, will apply. The citizens of this country do not have permission to enter Germany currently because of the variants of concern of the Delta strain. It should be noted that the vaccination rate in the UK is significantly higher than in Moldova for the time being. The Delta strain triggered large outbreaks among groups of unvaccinated people.
The probability that the Delta variant has already reached Moldova is more than 90%. The arguments are as follows: we have daily cases of import from Russia, not enough tests are carried out, the strains are not read, the quarantine of those coming from Russia and the United Kingdom is not monitored, epidemiological investigations are not perfected for those already tested positively at COVID-19, etc.
In about four weeks we're going to have a rapid growth, like the one in Moscow now. The vaccination rate in Russia and Moldova are comparable, about 12% of the population received at least one dose of vaccine. We don't apparently have enough herd immunity to stop this wave. The high imminence of the Delta strain, supported by the lack of restrictions and the reduced vaccination rate will determine the size of the new pandemic wave in Moldova.
What can we do in these four weeks to stop the tide?
We can speed up the vaccination campaign. It is already clear that all those most aware and those who have already wanted are vaccinated. Their rate is about 20%, relative to the general population in total, if we include those vaccinated in other countries. The other 80% need motivation.
Motivation can be material or ideological.
Ideological motivation would be good for supporters of political parties or religious cults. To awaken these currents requires a lot of involvement and communication. Political party leaders could begin with an urge to vaccinate themselves for party members, support groups, fans, their family members.
Material motivation can be achieved through various promotional packages with personalized gifts at each dose of vaccine, various lotteries with stately cash prizes or other tangible goods.
For example, if the Moldovan Lottery conditioned the sale of tickets only to those vaccinated, it would stimulate the vaccination of their fans. Another example of motivation would be among fans of certain cosmetic or health products, distributed among networks of consultants such as Oriflamme or Herbalife and others. Food packages or packages of necessities can be an important motivator for low-income people.
There's going to be voices that say we don't have the money for the material motivation of vaccination. I'll partially agree: There are no funds specifically allocated for this, yet. But they can easily be organized from the funds for social responsibility of large companies, from health funds, from social funds.
If we avoid the Delta strain wave, which estimative can generate from 50,000 to 100,000 new cases of COVID-19, and multiply these figures to the cost of treatment of one case, and add the expenses, caused by the loss of working capacity, I assure you that we will save much more, only by stimulating vaccination.
Doctors are tired of exhausting work. The population is tired of pandemic stress and uncertainty. The solution to getting out of uncertainty is one – vaccination. Perhaps we are now at the decisive point of transforming our attitude towards this process. A kind of metamorphosis of the vaccination campaign can help us transform the lives of all the people of Moldova and start on a positive path of evolution and change. Maybe this metamorphosis will determine our near future?...
