(source: AP/TASR)
There are now more than 108,000 unused coronavirus vaccine doses in Slovakia. It is roughly ten-thousand times more than what doctors have used in the five weeks of the vaccine rollout.
The Health Ministry has suggested that the state is keeping the reserve in order to administer the second dose to people who have already received their first jab, given that supplies are uncertain.
Vaccination experts say that they understand the caution, but they expect the state to employ bolder and primarily faster vaccination.
There are now more than 207,000 vaccines in Slovakia, according to the ministry. As of Monday, January 25, 2021, altogether 96,285 people have received the first dose, according to the data on the korona.gov.sk website. Meanwhile, 2,669 have received the second dose as well. Slovakia has thus used 98,954 vaccines as of January 25.
The real concern is around the number of unused doses that has been increasing in a week-on-week comparison. On Monday, January 18, there were 73,000; one week later the ministry reported almost 35,000 more. Experts see the problem in the cautious approach as well as the management and logistics of the rollout. Last year, head of the ministerial working group for vaccination, Pavol Jarčuška, warned that this could become a risk.
