Medical workers prepare the COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Jan. 13, 2022. Slovenia launched a massive three-day vaccination campaign on Thursday to curb the fast spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. (Photo by Zeljko Stevanic/Xinhua)
LJUBLJANA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Slovenia launched a massive three-day vaccination campaign on Thursday to curb the fast spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Until Saturday, vaccination centers across the country will be open at least 12 hours a day with no appointment needed.
"We are expecting a bigger number of patients (than usually) to come in, so we are prepared with bigger teams to vaccinate, and we are ready to vaccinate anyone who comes," Haris Mustajbasic, a vaccination coordinator in a health center in Ljubljana, told Xinhua.
Although Slovenia started its vaccination campaign more than a year ago, so far only 57 percent of the country's 2.1 million population have been fully vaccinated.
Health Minister Janez Poklukar visited several vaccination centers on Thursday and told reporters that "I am glad there is a lot of interest. This will help us master the pandemic together and return to the life that we knew before the outbreak."
"We have 153 patients in intensive care units today," he said. "Ninety percent of them have not been vaccinated. So, I again invite the public to take part in the vaccination days that we have organized."
Slovenia has been fighting COVID-19 since March 2020. To date, it has logged 512,793 confirmed COVID-19 cases and has lost over 6,000 people to the coronavirus, the National Institute of Public Health said. ■
A medical worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a man at a health center in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Jan. 13, 2022. Slovenia launched a massive three-day vaccination campaign on Thursday to curb the fast spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. (Photo by Zeljko Stevanic/Xinhua)
A medical worker prepares the COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Jan. 13, 2022. Slovenia launched a massive three-day vaccination campaign on Thursday to curb the fast spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. (Photo by Zeljko Stevanic/Xinhua)
People wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a health center in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Jan. 13, 2022. Slovenia launched a massive three-day vaccination campaign on Thursday to curb the fast spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant. (Photo by Zeljko Stevanic/Xinhua)
