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On May 18, at the regular meeting of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development the Member of the RA NA delegation to PACE, the deputy of the Armenia Faction Armen Gevorgyan delivered a speech ‘The Distrust Towards Vaccination as a Serious Problem of Public Health.’

“Madam Chairperson,

First of all, let me express my gratitude to the authors of the resolution. We are discussing a very important document. I would like to draw your attention to three aspects.

First. A study of the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO) allows me to conclude that among the members-states of our organization there is a clear relationship between the quality of democracies and the level of vaccination of the population. Obviously, not the highest quality of democracy in certain countries predetermines the low level of citizens' confidence in the state vaccination programs.

Looking closely at the WHO data, only most EU countries could achieve high levels of vaccination. This is a worrying trend and challenge. Another explanation for the disparity in vaccination rates among our member-states is the unequal access to vaccines at the very early stage of their introduction. The fairness in the distribution and availability of the first best Covid -19 vaccines has suffered greatly. Many countries began to receive them when the needs of economically more developed countries were first met. In this matter, unfortunately, solidarity was in second place.

Second. Skepticism began to spread to all types of vaccinations after launching the Covid-19 vaccination programs in countries with underdeveloped economies. Communication technologies and social networks in countries where health insurance is also poorly developed are very friendly to the spread and intensification of vaccine nihilism. This is a new challenge that should be at the center of our attention.

And the last. I think that it would be useful to think over approaches that are universal for our organization, on compensation mechanisms for those people who have suffered from vaccination. I know that such developments exist within the EU. To avoid further deepening of the stratification among our member states in terms of the level of vaccinations, we must create the most equal opportunities for all citizens of Europe.” the deputy noted.