"The vaccines were allocated because Vilnius now has an exceptionally complicated situation, exceptionally complicated. (…) Beds are being occupied in Vilnius. The number of ICU beds has already reached the December level when Lithuania was the first in the world in terms of infection cases," the minister told the national radio LRT on Tuesday.
"The "black Lithuania" in terms of the epidemiological situation – the Vilnius region and Kaunas is nearing those levels and the rest of Lithuania where case rates are much lower. Therefore, we should probably stand in solidarity, and all planned vaccines for those cities, they will also reach vaccination centers," the minister said.
On Monday, the Health Ministry said it had decided to allocate 46,512 vaccine dozes for Vilnius vaccination centers. 19,800 of the dozes had been allocated for other municipalities, including Siauliai and Klaipeda, which angered the cities' mayors.
Official statistics show the 14-day case rate in Vilnius now stands at 992 per 100,000 people, compared to the Lithuanian average of 539. The weekly increase in new cases in Vilnius stands at 6.5 percent, compared to the national average of 2.3 percent. And the share of positive rests in Vilnius stands at 7.3 percent, compared to 6.3 percent nationwide.