Health officials request church’s support in coronavirus vaccination campaign
Georgian Patriarchate says that they will not take the responsibility to encourage people to receive the coronavirus vaccine. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgian health officials have requested the Georgian church, ‘as the most trusted institution’ in the country, to encourage people to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze has stated that the church ‘plays an important role in the country’s life and people trust clerics the most.’
Over the past 200 years vaccines have saved millions of lives around the world. Science and the church have always cooperated. The church has always supported facts proved by science. The role of the church in the vaccination process is crucial,” Gamkrelidze said yesterday.
The spokesperson of the Georgian Patriarchate Andria Jaghmaidze has responded that the church ‘will not take on the responsibility and will not encourage people to vaccinate.’
He said that ‘it is good that vaccination is not mandatory,’ adding that vaccines are new and there are different views around them.
Church says that it is the responsibility of doctors to encourage people to vaccinate and not of the clerics. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Some social media users have been actively writing that ‘coronavirus was deliberately spread to insert microchips in humans which is the beginning of apocalypse.’
Hundreds of Georgians also share false information on social media that ‘Europe banned the AstraZeneca vaccine’ which is the first vaccine Georgia received on March 13.
Several European countries have ‘temporarily suspended’ the use of the vaccine due to a possible connection between the vaccine and an increased risk of blood clots.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is now studying the issue and will release its recommendation in the coming days.
Gamkrelidze says that without vaccination the country will not return to the normal way of living. Photo: publika.
However, both EMA and the World Health Organisation say that the AstraZeneca vaccine ‘is very unlikely to create blood clots.’
There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine," EMA said on Thursday.
EMA said that there had been 30 cases of ‘thromboembolic events’ among the five million Europeans who have received the jab.
Georgia has received 43,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week and nearly 1,400 medical workers have been vaccinated so far (since March 15).
On March 15, the first day when coronavirus vaccination started in Georgia, 668 people were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine and 4,202 medical workers were registered for it, announces the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health.
Georgia has reported 537 new cases of coronavirus, 128 recoveries and eight deaths in the past 24 hours.
Georgian health officials and doctors have received their first doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine earlier today live on TV. The country received 43,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine on March 13 with the help of UNICEF. Deputy head of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control Paata Imnadze was the first who got the jab. After the vaccination he said that ‘I feel great’ and called on people, especially doctors to vaccinate.
The 43,200 doses of AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine has arrived in Georgia this morning. UNICEF, which has supported the Government of Georgia in procuring the Covid-19 vaccines, has announced that the plane has already landed at Tbilisi International Airport.
Georgia has reported 382 new cases of coronavirus, 313 recoveries and seven deaths in the past 24 hours.
Georgia has reported 369 new cases of coronavirus, 378 recoveries and nine deaths in the past 24 hours.23,747 tests have been conducted around the country in the past 24 hours. 13,503 of the 23,747 tests were rapid tests, while the remaining 10,244 were PCR tests. The country has had 276,436 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020. 269,384 of the 276,436 patients have recovered, while 3,674 have died of the virus. Currently 3,352 individuals remain infected with Covid-19.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili received the coronavirus AstraZeneca vaccine live on TV earlier today.
Megi Bakradze, a 27-year-old nurse in the Georgian town of Akhaltsikhe, developed an alleged anaphylactic reaction after receiving the first shot of AstraZeneca vaccine earlier today. She has been hospitalised in Tbilisi and her condition is severe.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has announced that Georgia will continue using AstraZeneca vaccine despite the recent case of an alleged complication following vaccination in the town of Akhaltsikhe earlier today.
Georgia has reported 360 new cases of coronavirus, 242 recoveries and nine deaths in the past 24 hours.
A 27-year-old Georgian nurse Megi Bakradze who went into anaphylactic shock after receiving the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine yesterday has died earlier today at first University Clinic of Tbilisi State Medical University.
The Georgia Patriarchate says that the future decision of Patriarch Ilia II whether or not to receive the coronavirus vaccine, who is the most trusted figure in the country, ‘should not be a determiner for others.’
The Georgian government has imposed coronavirus restrictions between August 14 and September 4 to curb the spread of coronavirus. The restrictions are as follows: Public transport will not work between August 14 and September 4. Intercity transport will work in a regular manner. The government promises they will ensure regular transportation of people (in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi and Rustavi) to main hospitals or clinics to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Georgian Patriarch Ilia II has ordered Orthodox churches to comply with regulations such as usage of disposable cups, distance, disinfection and wearing the facemasks as coronavirus spikes in the country at a record level.
Starting today three-week coronavirus restrictions come into play in Georgia to curb the spread of coronavirus. Public transport will not work in all main cities of Georgia from today to September 4, however intercity transport will work in a regular manner.
Senior Georgian priest Ilia (Irakli) Chigladze in the eparchy of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been dismissed from the priesthood following his criticism of the Georgian Patriarchate, the press service of the Patriarchate reported earlier today.