The state has made kindergarten enrollment conditional on vaccination, UNICEF does not support this

A child cannot be enrolled in kindergarten unless mandatory vaccinations have been completed, except in cases of permanent medical contraindications for a particular immunization, as stipulated in the Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, which came into force at the beginning of this year.

Epidemiologist at the Institute of Public Health Milko Joksimović said on Vijesti Television's Boje jutra that "the goal is not punishment, but the protection of children and citizens."

According to him, until 15 years ago, mandatory immunization coverage was almost 90 percent, while in the previous five years there has been a significant decline.

Joksimović says that coverage has reached a historic low - every second child born between 2020 and 2024 has not been vaccinated.

"The state has decided to pass a law to try to reverse this downward trend. Much has been done so far, but these campaigns have yielded short-term results. Therefore, from the next enrollment year, in order to attend state and private kindergartens, it is necessary for the child to have received all vaccines from the mandatory immunization calendar," said Joksimović.

According to the law, only a selected pediatrician can issue a certificate of vaccination, and the detailed content of that document is prescribed by the Ministry of Health.

A legal entity will be fined between 1.500 and 20.000 euros for a misdemeanor if, among other things, the certificate of vaccination has not been issued by the selected pediatrician of the competent health center. The doctor who does so will also be fined, while parents will be fined between 300 and 2.000 euros if they fail to provide their preschool and school-age child with mandatory immunization in accordance with the calendar.

"The bylaw implementing this law shall be adopted within one year from the date of its entry into force. Until the bylaws are adopted, the regulations adopted until the date of entry into force of this law shall apply, if they are not in conflict with this law," the recently adopted regulation states.

UNICEF, said Senad Begić from the UN children's fund, neither supports nor promotes mandatory vaccination.

"And for two reasons. The first is because there is abundant evidence indicating the limited effectiveness of such an intervention. And the second, perhaps more important, is that we absolutely cannot support any conditioning of one child's right on another, which, unfortunately, some countries apply," said Begić.

He recalled that UNICEF has a mandate defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that a child has the right to health care, which absolutely includes immunization, but also a range of other rights.

"...Among which is the right to education. And simply from a legal, moral and ethical point of view, conditioning one right with another right is absolutely unacceptable," said, among other things, Begić.