Intensive vaccination days for all categories have been organized for more than two months. Donations of vaccines were offered to Tunisia by a dozen countries. The Ministry of Health granted Tunisians who vaccinated during October 2 and 3 the opportunity to choose from 5 vaccines: AstraZeneca, Sinovac, Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen. and she even extended the vaccination days from October 4 to October 9 according to a statement published on the official page of the Ministry of Health on October 3, 2021.
Despite this initiative aimed at increasing the rate of vaccinated Tunisians, some are intrigued by the trend towards compulsory vaccination because they simply do not want to be vaccinated, others refuse that this initiative be applied because there is a Malfunction in Evax.
Health ministry manager Ali Mrabet announced on private radio that the ministry hopes to vaccinate 80% of the population as soon as possible. He said there is a trend towards mandatory vaccination passes in public and commercial spaces.
Controversies around the vaccine pass
Following the controversies that took place because of the announcement of the trend towards the obligation to present the vaccination pass, several questions were recurrent: I have an illness that prevents me from being vaccinated, what should I to do? I have yet to receive the confirmation message for the second dose? Why force some people to get vaccinated even though they don’t want to?
Questions that have been asked by Tunisians of different age groups. Positions that converge at the level of concern in the face of the trend towards compulsory vaccination passes and diverge at the level of reason.
To answer these questions, “JDD Tunisia” contacted the director of the Institut Pasteur de Tunis and member of the scientific committee for the fight against the Coronavirus Hechmi Louzir who explained that: “First of all, you have to differentiate between the health pass and the vaccination pass. Indeed, in Tunisia there is talk of a tendency to require the presence of a pass which proves that the person is fully vaccinated (vaccination pass) but for the health pass it does not concern us, really, since the health pass means that the person is tested negative without having to prove that he is fully vaccinated. We have adapted for the vaccination pass so that the Tunisians are not obliged to take a test to prove that they are not affected by the virus. “
Regarding the solutions to the constraints that this decision may pose, Louzir added: “There are two essential constraints: the first is linked to a contraindication to the vaccine. in this case, you must have a prescription from a doctor confirming this hypothesis.
The second constraint is mainly linked to the malfunction of the “Evax” platform. In this case, the Tunisian is brought either to call the toll-free number or to go to the center to rectify this problem and of course the dysfunctions are treated there case by case ”
For his part, the press attaché of the Ministry of Health noted that “until now there is no obligation to present the vaccination pass but concerning the date of its obligation, the scientific committee meets, meets discuss and decide. “
