Health Minister: Pandemic situation in Slovakia still quite stable

The situation with COVID-19 remains relatively stable; the number of people admitted to hospitals is not going up and the number of people infected with novel coronavirus is also relatively stable. Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarský (an OLaNO nominee) reported this on Wednesday following the Government meeting. According to the Ministry's Health Analysis Institute Matej Mišík, within the Central European region the number of cases is growing slightly. In terms of the vaccination rate, Slovakia lags behind the EU average as a country by 20 percent. Over the last seven days, there have been an average of 115 infected cases per day in Slovakia. Among the cases in the last two weeks, 74 percent of those infected were unvaccinated. At the same time, Mišík expects that with the start of the new school year, interest in vaccinations will increase slightly. In response to the criticism regarding the vaccination lottery not fulfilling its purpose in motivating a higher vaccination rate, Finance Minister Igor Matovič, who introduced the idea of the lottery, said the lottery was never announced as an instrument to increase the vaccination rate. It was announced as an instrument for rewarding the vaccinated. He also remarked that the Health Ministry has not launched any new campaign despite receiving finances.