Health minister: no basis for mandatory vaccination at this stage
Health officials announced several days ago that a fifth wave of COVID-19 in Georgia has begun, stating that ‘vaccination is the solution.’ Photo: Ministry of Health.
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Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has stated earlier today that it is necessary to encourage the public to vaccinate and to refrain from any coercive measures as much as possible amid a recent surge of coronavirus cases.
We are running a number of various activities that are mainly based on information campaigns and increasing the availability of vaccines, which have some effect and at this stage. We do not see any basis for forced vaccination,” Tikaradze said.
Georgia has reported 1,942 new cases of coronavirus and 46 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Health officials announced several days ago that a fifth wave of COVID-19 in Georgia has begun, stating that ‘vaccination is the solution.’
The vaccination marathon was launched in Georgia on October 18 and involved about 50 villages in various regions of Georgia, aiming to raise awareness about the benefits of vaccination. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
The head of Georgia's National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Amiran Gamkrelidze, also spoke about possible mandatory vaccination and noted that ‘it is a difficult issue to resolve.’
He also said that teachers are demanding mandatory vaccination against coronavirus in the country.
Particularly teachers tell us that if it [vaccination] becomes mandatory, they will be vaccinated,” Gamkrelidze said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated yesterday that he will not allow vaccination against COVID-19 to become mandatory, noting that ‘our citizens have the right and ability to choose freely.’
A total of 925,169 people are completely vaccinated in Georgia, totalling 32.4% of the country’s population; however, only 1,877 received a COVID-19 vaccine dose yesterday.