Vaccination Process Failed: 'Zhoghovurd'

'Zhoghovurd' newspaper reports: 'I do not consider this a failure,' said Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan during a conversation with journalists yesterday, addressing the collapse of the vaccination process. This is in light of Armenia having the lowest vaccination rates in the region, with only 6 percent. In comparison, Turkey's vaccination rate stands at 57.1 percent, Azerbaijan at 40.9, Georgia at 20.4, Iran at 21.9, and Russia at 30.1.

The minister, who has overseen these disgraceful figures, confidently states that she does not deem the vaccination process a failure. However, it is crucial to know how many of the 6 percent vaccinated citizens in Armenia are actually Armenian citizens, how many are foreigners, and most importantly, how many of them are healthcare workers. To this inquiry from 'Zhoghovurd,' the ministry responded that they can only provide data on how many foreigners have been vaccinated at the end of each month.

This comes after Prime Minister of Armenia had instructed the Ministry of Health during a cabinet meeting on July 22 to publish daily updates on how many of the vaccinated citizens are from Armenia and how many are foreign nationals. Thus, Anahit Avanesyan is not consistently implementing the Prime Minister's directive.

'Zhoghovurd' also inquired about the cost of vaccines used for foreigners and how much it has amounted to from the state budget, but received no answer on this matter either.

In summary, it can be said that the Ministry of Health, under Anahit Avanesyan's leadership, has purchased vaccines at the expense of taxpayers and has been preoccupied for approximately six months, while the vaccination process resembles more of a wasting of vaccines rather than a serious endeavor to maintain the health of target groups. The ministry is providing numbers rather than engaging in the essential work of keeping people healthy and safe from infections.

This is the reason why the current government has the lowest approval ratings among its citizens in the region. Only 6 percent have trusted Nikol Pashinyan's government enough to get vaccinated, and we still do not know how many of those six are foreigners.

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.