Over the past seven weeks, the incidence of COVID-19 has been increasing in the Lviv region.
If in 2020 there was little information about the coronavirus and how to prevent its spread, as of today, thanks to the widespread use of the vaccine, it was possible to prevent a huge number of fatal cases of the disease, a number of complications and a high percentage of hospitalizations. Three years of the pandemic have created confidence in the vaccination against COVID-19 in most people. But there is still a part of those who suffered the disease for the first or second time and believe that the immunity that remained after the disease will be long-lasting and will protect them from the next infection. However, as experience shows, this is not quite the case, Nataliya Ivanchenko, the head of the Lviv Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health, an expert in epidemiology of the Lviv Regional Health Department, noted at a briefing at the Lviv OVA regarding vaccination against COVID-19.
“Immunity, both after a previous illness and after the first or second dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, tends to decrease. That is, the titers of antibodies fall and a person, when meeting another person who secretes the virus, can become infected and the body can respond with the disease. Therefore, scientists around the world, working to reduce the risk of infection and disease from COVID-19, call for a basic vaccination package (ie, two doses of the vaccine or one dose – depending on the vaccine). Then you need to introduce additional booster doses in order to constantly keep the body in a protected state,” Nataliya Ivanchenko explained.
The first booster dose should be administered no earlier than 5 months after the complete vaccine complex. If more time has passed, there is also a need to do a booster dose. The second booster should be administered after 4 months. If this time has passed, you can get vaccinated later, but the minimum interval between booster doses should be exactly 4 months.
Nataliya Ivanchenko also reported that less than 42% of Lviv Oblast residents received the basic vaccine complex. It’s not enough. Young people and people of middle working age are most actively vaccinated in Lviv Region. It is still important to reach older people with vaccination, because the 70 and over age group has the highest number of deaths. In total, since the start of the pandemic, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people in Lviv Oblast. The percentage of complications and hospitalizations is significantly higher among people older than 60 years.
The epidemiologist added that only a little less than 8% of the population in Lviv region received the first booster dose, and less than 1% received the second booster dose. So the virus has the opportunity to spread further in society and cause new cases of diseases. Thus, over the past seven weeks, the Lviv region recorded an increase in the incidence of COVID-19 – from 200 to 1,250 cases per week.
“We are registering fatalities. Over the past week, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of 10 residents of the region. The week before – 18 residents (of which only 1 person was vaccinated with one dose of the vaccine. The other 17 were not vaccinated at all). Therefore, if older people have a number of chronic diseases, they are at risk of contracting COVID-19 and their body with all the accompanying diseases may not be able to cope with the coronavirus. Therefore, it is worth taking the first and second dose, the first and second booster dose, so that the body is always ready to meet the virus,” the doctor emphasized.
Where you can get vaccinated:
There are 165 stationary vaccination points in the Lviv region – https://list.covid19.gov.ua/ There are also three mobile teams working in the region, which periodically travel to enterprises, institutions, organizations, in remote areas, in order to bring the vaccination service closer to people
In order for the virus not to spread, we must remember simple rules, noted Natalia Ivanchenko:
“Get sick – stay at home. Do not send children to school or kindergarten with signs of an acute respiratory disease. If you have such symptoms – do not go to work, stay at home for a few days and inform your family doctor about your condition to determine the necessary treatment,” the epidemiologist added.