I Do Not Exclude That Test Prices Will Be Increased So That People Will Desperately Go and Get Vaccinated: Doctor Gevorg Grigoryan

As is known, starting October 1, the Ministry of Health will implement legislative changes requiring workers to either be vaccinated or undergo testing twice a month. The potential dangers, contraindications, and harms of vaccination have been widely discussed, but testing issues are equally important. There are problems in this area as well, and a tested individual is not guaranteed protection from infection or from spreading the virus.

In an interview with ArmDaily.am, the President of the Armenian National Health Council, urologist Doctor Gevorg Grigoryan, mentioned that there is a high likelihood that people will take the test, receive a negative result, and become infected the very next day. "A negative test result does not provide insurance for 14 days; however, obtaining a negative result is a serious burden for our population under such social conditions. This has simply been set up to ensure that our citizens, realizing the unacceptable costs and extravagance anticipated regarding testing, will go and get vaccinated. It is directly placed as a dilemma. I do not rule out that they will raise the prices of tests so that people will be forced to go and get vaccinated," Grigoryan stated.

He noted that he does not believe in the effectiveness of this legislative change. "This will not work because we have a labor market where finding good employees is a significant problem, and simply firing someone for not being vaccinated without a legal requirement... I do not think employers will take that step. The law does not impose the obligation on employers to dismiss employees, it creates conditions that give employers legal grounds to dismiss them at will. Which employer would want to fire their employee?" the doctor remarked.

Referring to the requirement that employees without a negative test result or vaccination certificate will not be allowed to work, Grigoryan noted that this means employers are putting their employees in compulsory downtime. "In such cases, the Labor Code stipulates that the employer is obliged to pay wages. This means that the employer will not allow that person to come to work but will still pay their salary; the employer will incur enormous losses. Afterwards, it is natural that employers will hardly accept that situation because our private sector is very large and many businessmen are involved. I do not think they will easily and calmly accept all of this," Grigoryan explained.

He pointed out that the changes to this law are so absurd that they exclude, for example, pregnant women or those who have contraindications to vaccination from being carriers, as mandatory testing is not required for them either. "There are many omissions, and those omissions will come from our population. The population needs to understand what is being prepared. I am eagerly awaiting October 1; I will be tested twice a month. The rest can think about what they will do," Grigoryan said.

There have already been instances where companies conducting tests enter into agreements with institutions that if an employer can present a large number of employees for testing, the clinic will provide tests at a lower cost than that offered in the market. Grigoryan positively evaluated such occurrences, stating that the market should be flexible. "Let people understand that the private sector—laboratories, testers—care more about them than the public institutions do. That is very good, because today, public institutions do not take care of their own people," the specialist said.

We also contacted the Competition Protection Commission to clarify the market situation. "We inform you that the sector is competitive, with more than 10 economic operators active in the field, and there are no dominant players. Testing prices range from 8,000 to 15,000 drams, with some places charging up to 20,000 drams, and the Competition Protection Commission has no authority to set prices. If there is a need for such regulation, it should occur through law or any other normative legal act," they reported from the commission.