STA, 4 May 2021 - Bojana Beović, the head of the national advisory committee on immunisation, has said it would soon make sense to make coronavirus vaccination available to everyone who wants to get vaccinated.
"Given that a lot of vaccines are coming, I think it no longer makes sense to keep this [age] barrier even though not everyone over 50 has been vaccinated," she told the press on Tuesday.
Beović acknowledged this was not a formal proposal by the advisory committee, which she said was dealing more with direct expert issues such as which vaccines are suitable for which age group.
But if it is asked about this, the advisory committee will convene and provide an answer.
Under the currently valid strategy, Slovenia is vaccinating all over the age of 50, plus several priority groups.
But there has been concern about whether it can reach the desired rate of vaccination given that interest in older age groups waned once about 60% were vaccinated.
Where can I get vaccinated for COVID in Slovenia?
Find your local health centre (zdravstveni dom – ZD) in the list here, then click through to the website. These have different styles, but you’re looking for something with COVID-19 ceplenje (COVID-19 vaccination). From there you should get more details and be able to register for a jab (Naročanje na COVID-19 cepljenje)
Whether Slovenia indeed achieves the goal of vaccinating 60% of the adult population by 15 June - as of today more than 20% have received at least one shot - Beović said this would "depend on us".
She thinks everyone should focus on how to get vaccinated as soon as possible rather than whether to get vaccinated at all or which vaccine to get.
According to her, once the vaccination rate reached 60%, "we can afford to live very differently".
