10:59,

YEREVAN, APRIL 29, ARMENPRESS. With only 2690 people having been vaccinated against COVID-19 in Armenia so far, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Cabinet said they will get the shots within a week in an attempt to promote the inoculation process and dismiss speculations.

During the April 29 Cabinet meeting, the caretaker minister of healthcare Anahit Avanesyan – who got her first dose of the vaccine the day before – said that 656 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded over the past 24 hours, and over 2000 patients are now hospitalized. 16 people died over the last 24 hours. The death toll has already passed 4000, she said.

The Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan had joined Avanesyan in the televised vaccination process. Avanesyan says they are both feeling well.

“Getting vaccinated is the only way which will help us end the disastrous process of deaths and suppress the next wave,” Avanesyan said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said they should set an example and that all other Cabinet members ought to get vaccinated in a week. 

“If any vaccine were to pose any danger to our citizens’ health the government would simply not accept that vaccine,” Pashinyan said.

“The campaign which exists in Armenia isn’t surprising at all because unfortunately some anti-vaccination movements have begun in Armenia over the last years and their goal is unclear. We must all get vaccinated. As of this moment only 2690 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19, which is an embarrassingly low number.”

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan