The horrifying testimony of a doctor shows the absolute decline of values in our society – which is undoubtedly also contributed to by the media, as they usually express hidden scepticism both when it comes to the methods of vaccination and its implementation. A group of unknown perpetrators invaded the vaccination centre in Ljubljana, voicing their opposition to vaccination, filming the scene and the people who came to get vaccinated – without permission, and trying to force the medical workers to discuss vaccination with them. Due to this intrusion, the vaccination process was temporarily halted at the vaccination centre in question, which means that those waiting to be vaccinated had to wait even longer. Meanwhile, the anti-vaxxers continued to harass the medical staff with questions and tried to persuade individuals who came to get vaccinated to not do it, as well as recorded both those who were waiting and those who were working, director of the National Institute of Public Health, Milan Krek wrote for PortalPlus. Police were also called to the scene, who came and carried out the appropriate procedures.
An unacceptable incident has occurred in our beautiful homeland, which is celebrating the 30th anniversary of freedom and development. In Slovenia, which is successfully implementing the process of vaccinating the population against covid-19, strangers broke into the vaccination centre and recorded and disrupted the work process there. They crossed a new line in the Slovenian healthcare field, invaded the personal space of the individuals who came to get vaccinated, as well as the confidential space between doctor and patient, which was, at least until yesterday, protected by general norms, director of the National Institute of Public Health Milan Krek said.
“Something has happened that I have never experienced in my entire career in healthcare – despite the fact that for many years, I worked with people addicted to drugs, who are considered to be problematic. And yet, they always approached their doctors respectfully, and we also had a lot of empathy and respect for them, for their problems. They never violently interrupted the work process and never violently entered the space between doctor and patient. This space remained intact and was based on mutual trust and respect,” Milan Krek shared.
However, this mutual respect was broken last week, as unknown perpetrators invaded the vaccination centre. What happened there is unacceptable, but at the same time also very telling, as it shows that the medical personnel and their work is practically not respected anymore in Slovenia. It also shows that the media, as well as social media, has a large impact on the citizens of our country. Their attitude towards the healthcare professionals is largely negative – they are mostly interested in the doctors’ salaries.
Krek then wondered, worriedly, whether the online verbal attacks and attacks in certain media outlets will now be followed by actual physical attacks in the vaccination centres. “This is inadmissible,” Krek said, adding that we need to be aware of the fact that the more people are vaccinated, the better it is for the health of all of us.
Despite the recent events, he called on everyone to come and get vaccinated, as there is still enough vaccine for everyone, and it is perfectly safe to get vaccinated with the vaccination approved by the European Medical Agency.
Anita Gužvič
