Slovakia was among the countries most severely affected by the pandemic - due to the distrust of Western vaccines and the underestimation of Covid itself. Now in power in the country are anti-vaxxers who want to ban mRNA vaccines.
In Slovakia, Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova resigned. She is from the "Voice - Social Democracy" party, the most moderate formation in the populist government of Prime Minister Robert Fizo.
Dolinkova left the cabinet after only 11 months in office, justifying her decision with disagreements over the budget, which foresees deep cuts in the health care system. But the main reason was probably the report of the government plenipotentiary, Peter Kotlar, tasked with investigating the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Slovakia.
In his report, Kotlar not only questions the pandemic itself, but also calls for a ban on mRNA vaccines developed by Western companies such as BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna. According to experts, it is these vaccines that have contributed to a significant reduction in deaths from Covid and to limiting the consequences of the pandemic.
However, Kotlar disputes this. "The most serious consequence of the whole fictitious operation called the Covid-19 pandemic is the threat to human health," he said when presenting his report.
Anti-vaxxers rule in Bratislava
During the pandemic, Kotlar, a representative of the ruling Slovak National Party, repeatedly spoke out against the then government's measures and vaccinations. This earned him considerable popularity, which eventually helped him enter parliament.
His call to ban mRNA vaccines is also supported by Prime Minister Fitzo. "You all know that I personally have always been against experimental Covid vaccines," Fizzo said in an address to the nation at the weekend. And he added that he had many acquaintances who complained of significant health problems after vaccination against the coronavirus. In the same address, published on Facebook, Fico called on Kotlar to find out who has enriched himself in Slovakia through the "unnecessary purchase of medical materials and vaccines".
High mortality during the pandemic
Slovakia was one of the worst affected countries during the Covid pandemic. In the central European EU member state with a population of 5 million, 21,000 people have died from Covid-19. In addition to the unsatisfactory state of the health care system, disinformation campaigns, distrust of modern Western vaccines, and the underestimation of Covid itself also contributed to this.
Eventually, distrust reached such proportions that many Slovaks rejected Western vaccines and were willing to be vaccinated only with the Russian "Sputnik" vaccine. In the spring of 2021, then-Prime Minister Igor Matovich sent a government delegation to Moscow to negotiate the supply of the "Sputnik" vaccine. However, after the EU did not recognize the Russian vaccine, in the end it was not accepted in Slovakia either - and so the "Sputnik" doses became necessary. to be destroyed.
Bratislava ends its cooperation with the WHO
Despite all this, the government of Prime Minister Robert Fizzo continues to hold its negative position on mRNA vaccines and the pandemic. As a first step, it announced that it would end its cooperation with the WHO on the topic of Covid-19.
"Let's stop the use of mRNA preparations until their efficacy and safety are proven,'' Kotlar said at the presentation of his report, adding that the mRNA preparations were altering human DNA. The vaccines were not sufficiently tested and therefore dangerous, the official insists.
"This shows how far Slovakia has come after one year of Robert Fico's government," Slovak political scientist Grigory Mesezhnikov, chairman of the Bratislava-based Institute for the Study of Public Affairs (IVO), told DV. He recalls that during the pandemic, Fico was perhaps the highest-ranking leader of the anti-vaxxer movement not only in Slovakia, but also in the whole of Europe.
"You can't fight against unscientific facts," Health Minister Dolinkova said with resignation, announcing her resignation.
Before being used during the pandemic, mRNA vaccines underwent rigorous testing by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). And in 2023, the Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to researchers Catalin Carrico and Drew Wiseman, whose discoveries contributed to the development of vaccines against the coronavirus.
Society is outraged
The report of the government plenipotentiary caused outrage in Slovak society. The public media, which is under increasing pressure from the government, described Kotlar's conclusions as completely false.
They are even more outraged in scientific circles. "As scientists who have been involved in the study of viruses for a long time, we are deeply troubled by the claims that Kotlar presented to the public. They cast doubt on facts that have been verified and accepted by the world expert community and the competent authorities," a group of experts said on the website of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
The opposition also protested Kotlar's report and its conclusions. "If we had a futility contest, Kotlar would win it. The plenipotentiary tasked with investigating the management of the pandemic has no analysis or evidence, but is abusing his official position to spread dangerous misinformation," Oskar Dvorak, an MP from the largest opposition party, Progressive Slovakia, told reporters. and Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health Care.