Azerbaijani scientist: New phase of pandemic control will begin after summer

"At present, our country, as in the rest of the world, is experiencing the increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths. This factor is mainly due to incautiousness and sometimes non-compliance with the rules. Of course, if everyone followed the requirements and the golden rule against the virus, we would not face the increase we see today. Moreover, vaccination is successfully underway in our country, and our people should take an active part in this process," Nuran Abdullayev, the chairman of the German-Azerbaijani Society of Radiology and Neuroradiology, Doctor of Medical Sciences at the University Hospital Cologne, told Report.

He said that the primary requirement now is to speed up the vaccination and increase the number of people involved: "People who want to return to normal life should know that if infection rate increases in parallel with the immunization, the real danger will begin then. In this case, a new mutation of the virus is expected, which can reduce the impact of the vaccine. Therefore, all this makes it even more necessary to participate in the vaccination actively and minimize live interactions.

"Everyone should understand that only by following the rules and getting vaccinated can we speed up the process of returning to everyday life. We can cite Israel as a clear example. Today, scientific studies show that vaccination in Israel has reduced the number of viral infections by 98%, severe clinical outbreaks by 93%, and deaths by 87%. Eighty-five percent of people over the age of 16 were vaccinated or gained immunity by infecting the virus. These scientifically-based figures indicate people should actively be involved in the vaccination process to have normal living conditions in the summer. "After the summer, the whole world will enter a new phase of pandemic control with different or repeated vaccinations," the Azerbaijani scientist added.

Notably, COVID-19 incidence and deaths have increased in Azerbaijan in recent days. According to statistics released by the Task Force under the Cabinet of Ministers, 303,858 people have contracted the virus so far, 267,485 of them have recovered. 4,203 have succumbed to the deadly pathogen. There are currently 32,170 active COVID-19 patients in the country.

Azerbaijan has vaccinated 1,352,210 people since January 18. The number of people vaccinated in the first phase is 899,212, and in the second phase is 452,997.