Covidocracy – two years later

“According to a public opinion survey conducted by the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy in September of last year, 18% of Serbian citizens still do not believe in the existence of the coronavirus, and 24% of citizens have not been vaccinated nor do they intend to do so at all. This is the result of numerous conspiracies and the spread of fake news. We appeal to improve the immunization campaign because the pandemic is still not over. On the contrary, it is gaining momentum again in China, South Korea and throughout Western Europe, and it is a matter of time before the new wave could spill over to Serbia as well,” said Srđan Hercigonja, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.

 

During the conference, it was pointed out that it is of great importance to form institutions as soon as possible after the upcoming elections.

 

“It is important to continue the fight against this virus, and for that to happen, the institutions must do their job. The Crisis Staff was formed as a temporary working body of the Government and its majority is made up of people whose functions are political. That body will not be able to function in a situation where the Government has not been formed”, said Milja Dimitrijević from the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists of Serbia.

 

At the conference, it was emphasized that the formation and work of the Crisis Staff are problematic, because the Crisis Staff is recognized by the public as the main body for managing the pandemic, and its work was legitimized and legalized only at the end of 2020. In contrast, there is a permanent body created by the Law on Population Protection from infectious diseases and which should consist of experts and does not depend on any electoral changes, which is the Republican Expert Commission for the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases.

 

“The new Government should start implementing the Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases and form an Expert Commission instead of the Crisis Staff.” The dualism of forms should be stopped. It’s not rational, and it’s not efficient,” Dimitrijević pointed out.

 

During the conference, it was highlighted that rational use of funds and investment in health care is necessary because form without essence means nothing. The new facilities are the form, and the essence is the staff – healthcare workers who will treat and care for patients. It is necessary to invest in staff, and provide and approve specializations. It was pointed out that it is commendable that health workers are employed, but on the other hand, a large number of these jobs are temporary, which causes great uncertainty.

 

The Belgrade Center for Security Policy and the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists of Serbia has prepared an analysis of the management of the pandemic, which, together with recommendations for potential similar crises in the future, will be presented at the beginning of June. As one of the problems in the preparation of the analysis, the confinement of the competent institutions which still did not respond to the requests for access to information was highlighted.

 

The conference was organized within the project ” Pandemic management – lessons learned for a more secure future“, which is implemented within the project of the Belgrade Open School “Dialogue of Change”, with the financial support of the European Union. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors or the Belgrade Open School, and the Belgrade Center for Security Policy is solely responsible for it.