SLK: Slovakia cannot afford mass testing right now

BRATISLAVA. KAZINFORM - Slovakia currently cannot afford mass testing, as it brings more risks than benefits, said Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) president Marian Kollar following his meeting with Health Minister Marek Krajci (OLaNO) on Wednesday (January 13), adding he sees the lockdown as a solution to the coronavirus pandemic for now, TASR reports.

Kollar believes that it makes sense to reduce mobility to a minimum. He also views it as important for the health-care sector to save material, personnel, financial and psychological strength. According to Kollar, testing should be organised only in the epicentres of novel coronavirus. He pointed to the risk of the more dangerous British mutation of novel coronavirus and the cold weather, which is why he doesn’t view it as the right step for masses of people to meet at countrywide testing. He noted that SLK disagrees with the health minister and government on this point.

According to Kollar, the good news is vaccination. However, the problem is a lack of vaccines. Kollar sees a big role for diplomacy in this regard. He thinks that the choice of those to be vaccinated should change. Vaccination should start with the oldest and highest-risk groups. He said that mobile vaccination units should be set up as of January 18, although he sees a potential problem in transporting the vaccine made by Pfizer.