February the 13th, 2022 - Goran Tesovic, an infectious disease specialist at the Dr. Fran Mihaljevic Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Zagreb told N1 that he doubted that any new vaccination strategy would help those who have already made their choices, for whatever reason.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Dr. Goran Tesovic said that he doesn't know what the strategy will be. He says he has now been claiming for a long time that whoever wanted to be vaccinated, has already been vaccinated, and that there are a lot of anti-vaxxers around.
“How much we medical professionals, or some of us, have contributed to that is hard to say, but we probably have. The media has played a role, and the basis of everything is that people's decisions about vaccination have shown that at least 30 percent of people are either anti-vaxxers or are suspicious about coronavirus vaccines. With a well-developed strategy, proper promotional measures, and consistent behaviour by healthcare authorities, perhaps someone who is hesitant would be persuaded to get vaccinated. You won't succeed with those who have a clearly defined attitude, no strategy can help an anti-vaxxer. 30 percent of people in this country have this anti-vaxx attitude even when it comes to mandatory vaccines in Croatia, and the coronavirus vaccine isn't mandatory, so it's only logical that this percentage will increase,'' he said.
Asked what could have been done in the beginning of the vaccine rollout, or what we missed, he said: "I'm not saying that much more could have been done because it is clear that there was a strong anti-vaxx mood from the very beginning, look at Bulgaria, Romania and other Eastern European countries. I think that this is, for the most part, a reflection of the overall situation in society and the lack of trust in the authorities. Whatever strategy may turn out to be wrong in the end, I'm afraid that there's no right advice,'' said Goran Tesovic.
He also spoke about compulsory vaccination in Croatia: “I think making vaccination mandatory wouldn't significantly solve this problem. Perhaps one could try to be more active towards older groups and emphasise how devastating this disease can be for these people more. Unfortunately, some of these people were initially afraid of the vaccine's side effects, which are exaggerated, and no one told them that if they get covid with their comorbidities, they're more likely to develop a severe clinical picture. I don’t think the introduction of compulsory vaccination would change much, it might encourage further incitement of the anti-vaxx atmosphere too. If introduced, it couldn't be for the entire population, and then the question arises as to whether it's mandatory vaccination at all in such a case. I'd stick to what's recommended and insisting that the elderly and those with comorbidities be vaccinated.''
Finally, he commented on the emergence of the Omicron variant: “I'm not in favour of removing the rule about masks, at least until we see what will happen when Omicron subsides completely. Covid certificates probably no longer make any sense given the variant that has unfolded in this way. This isn't a virus that will naturally provide immunity to us. The fact that most people get over Omicron without many issues doesn't mean that they're immune and can't be reinfected with another new variant,'' Goran Tesovic concluded.
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