MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. Chief physician of the Kommunarka hospital in Moscow Denis Protsenko thinks that obligatory vaccination of the population is the only way to beat the COVID-19 pandemic under current conditions.
"This is the only way out of the pandemic. The question is how it should be regulated, that’s the main question, I think," Protsenko said in an interview with RT when asked about obligatory mass vaccination of the population.
He added that the reason for the new COVID-19 outbreak in Moscow is the people’s disregard for masks, social distancing and the general carelessness of the population. "I think people got tired over the year, it’s true. All this together led to an outbreak that we call a third wave," Protsenko stated.
He admitted that he does not have an optimistic view of the situation, as the medics understand that this COVID-19 outbreak will reach other Russian regions soon.
"This is a new illness with new scenarios. We see that the incubation period has become shorter: before, it lasted seven to nine days, and now it is only four or five. The clinical picture has not changed much, but we see that there are patients that do not respond to standard treatment methods of complications caused by the coronavirus," the chief physician said.
Protsenko said that Moscow has not reached peak COVID-19 figures so far.
"I wish we were at the peak (of COVID-19 infection rate - TASS) now. But miracles don’t exist," he said.
He noted that the reasoning of those who oppose COVID-19 vaccination is speculative, for example, the claims that a woman can give birth to a baby with disabilities after being vaccinated against the coronavirus. "The illness is new, but it’s hard to talk about any long-term consequences," he stressed.
Protsenko thinks that COVID-19 vaccination passports may serve as the means of controlling the pandemic and encourage the population to get vaccinated.
"I think that it is one of the instruments that can help control the situation somehow," Protsenko said in an interview with RT.
He explained that a vaccination passport can help manage the pressure on the healthcare system. It can be used for international travel, which can encourage people to get vaccinated, he noted.
Moscow has documented 6,805 new COVID-19 cases on June 15. A total of 1,705 people have been hospitalized over the past day. There are 468 people hooked up to ventilators currently, and 71 patients have died in the past 24 hours.
Moscow has documented a total of 1,248,112 cases of COVID-19, including 6,805 in the past 24 hours.