Final Word from Monday, December 28, 2020

In his Christmas address on Sat., Pres. Miloš Zeman gave his full support to the covid-19 vaccination program and said that by getting inoculated, "We will help not only ourselves, but mainly others." The purpose of the vaccine is prevent people from dying from the disease, so it's not clear what Zeman meant. There is no evidence that it prevents transmission, even though politicians are going out of their way to avoid saying this. It's true, however, that a vaccinated person can help others by not taking up a hospital bed or other precious medical resources. In this sense, the vaccine does indeed provide the great hope that Zeman, PM Andrej Babiš and others are speaking about. If the government concentrates on vaccinating the at-risk groups and does a better job of keeping healthy or only slightly ill people out of the hospital, there will no longer be the need to shut down the economy because of insufficient hospital capacity. If this is the unstated strategy, let's get on with it. [ Czech Republic risky coronavirus ]