Unvaccinated Armenian citizens infected with coronavirus may be asked soon to pay for their treatment, which is now free, the press secretary of the Ministry of Health Hripsime Khachatryan said.
“This issue is already being discussed. The treatment may be quite expensive and may cost as much as 800 thousand drams (about $1.7 thousand),” Khachatryan said. The press secretary, however, did not mention when exactly this change may be enforced, ARKA reports.
Earlier on Thursday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was outraged over the low rates of vaccination against coronavirus ordering Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan "to stop complaining and get down to solving the problems.”
Pashinyan noted that today a different movement is being formed in Armenia, which calls for paid treatment for coronavirus. According to him, these people are wondering why they should pay taxes so that people refuse vaccination, get sick and infect others. They say the funds allocated for the treatment of Covid-19 patients could be given to schools and used for social needs.
According to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 5,466 died from Covid-19 as of October 7 morning.
In total, 1,780,512 coronavirus tests have been performed in the country of 3 million since March 1, 2020, when the first case was detected. Since then 246,259 patients have recovered, and 15,722 patients are being treated currently at hospitals and their homes.
On July 9, the government of Armenia extended the coronavirus quarantine for another six months until December 20, 2021.
The nationwide quarantine was first imposed on September 11, 2020 replacing the state of emergency that was declared on March 16 to stop the spread of coronavirus.
In Armenia, 5 types of Covid-19 vaccines are used now- CoronaVac and Sinofarm (China), AstraZeneka (Britain, Sweden), Sputnik V (Russia) and Spikevax (Moderna, USA). Vaccinations are free for people over 18 years old, including foreigners.
