President Recommends Government to Deal with SAV Report on Vaccines ASAP

Bratislava, 3 September (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini recommends the government to officially deal with the Slovak Academy of Sciences' (SAV) report on the results of the analysis of anti-Covid vaccines as soon as possible. Pellegrini received SAV chairman Martin Venhart in the Presidential Palace on Wednesday. According to the president, Venhart assured him that the scientists prepared the report in line with the requirements of the Slovak government and Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD), using recognised and state-of-the-art scientific methods and were under no political pressure while preparing it. "I recommend that the Slovak government officially deal with this report as soon as possible, since it has ordered it and it is ready, and subsequently make some political decisions based on it if necessary. Anyway, it should conclude this debate as soon as possible so that the SAV can continue to fulfill its tasks," stated the president, calling on the government to do its utmost for science and scientists not to become targets of ridicule and contempt so that the SAV doesn't become the subject of a political fight. According to the president, the SAV mustn't be the target of attacks just because the content of its analysis doesn't correspond to the ideas of Government Proxy for Investigating the COVID-19 Pandemic Management Peter Kotlar. "This doesn't entitle the government to gamble with the citizens' trust in scientific authorities," he added. He admitted the possibility of confronting the analysis in debates, but these must be held solely at the professional level, he stressed. Pellegrini doesn't view it as a good signal that the report repeatedly wasn't included in the agenda of the government session. However, he admits that a debate on the analysis doesn't belong to the agenda of an away-from-home session, especially because of its serious character. "Nevertheless, I believe the government will include the issue on its agenda as soon as the premier returns from his foreign trips," noted the president. Regarding Kotlar staying in office, the president stated that he still hadn't seen from him an analysis on what he should be dealing with in his post. "He's still messing with the chemical composition of the vaccines," he said. Nevertheless, Kotlar will end in his post only when the premier decides so. Venhart asked the head of state for the meeting in reaction to the fact that the government didn't deal with the analysis at its session last week. According to the SAV, an analysis showed that mRNA vaccines against the novel coronavirus contain only trace amounts of DNA molecules, well below approved limits. Academy pointed out that the risks raised by Kotlar were not substantiated. ko/mcs