Hospitals are ready, ministry says following opposition criticism

The government has underestimated the importance of Covid-19 vaccination and is poorly prepared for the third wave of the coronavirus epidemic in Slovakia, says former health minister Richard Raši. The ministry refused the criticism and insists preparations are underway.

Raši, a former prominent figure of the now opposition Smer, is one of the MPs close to former prime minister Peter Pellegrini, who left Smer last year and founded the new Hlas party. Pellegrini has repeatedly questioned the need for vaccination; he still has not been vaccinated himself, according to the publically available information.

The epidemic situation in Slovakia is reported as good. All of the country's districts remain in the green, lowest-alert tier in the Covid automat warning system that currently applies in the country. The vaccination rate is, however, below the EU average, with nearly 41 percent of the population vaccinated against Covid.