What preventive measures are needed and how to increase people’s awareness.

20.01.2022

On 20 January, the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation registered a number of CSOs participating in the campaign “I am not afraid of vaccinations”.

Debunking Myths about Vaccinations

Pavel Savchuck, the chairman of the All-Russian public movement “Medical Volunteers”, stated that, at present, collective immunity against the coronavirus is 63%. However, the aim is to increase the percentage of the population vaccinated to 80-90%. If this goal is reached, there is a chance that by 2023 infection levels will decrease to zero.

Anton Bibarov-Gosudarev, chairman of the CSO resource centre in the Tambov region, stated that anti-vaccination sentiment among the population has begun to decline as a result of educational work in the region, primarily due to the debunking of myths surrounding vaccination.

Public Health Bulletins

However, according to Yuri Voronov, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Smolensk Region, the current level of public education is not enough. Instead, he argues that health bulletins must be placed in all organizations and institutions, so as to increase public awareness.

The bulletins should not only inform the public about how the infection spreads, but should also contain up-to-date statistical data, such as the number of cases and deaths, information about the rate of vaccination, and so on.

“The history of vaccination should be more widely known, with the public better informed about which diseases have already been eradicated thanks to vaccines. In turn, CSOs should focus on monitoring the implementation of preventative measures. There are no new measures which can help us,” says Voronov. “Rather, we should properly implement those measures which have already been proposed.”

Booster Jabs

Oksana Drapkina, a representative of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a widely respected Doctor, and a member of the Civic Chamber, agrees with Voronov. According to WHO, the new strain of coronavirus — omicron — is spreading at a much faster rate than previous ones, and the only real preventative measure is vaccination.

According to experts, the primary focus should be on encouraging the public to receive their booster jabs, which enhance protection against the virus and help maintain collective immunity.

Source: https://www.asi.org.ru/news/2022/01/20/nko-covid-omikron-profilaktika/