Hundreds of members of the Serbian army in camouflage uniforms waited in line yesterday in the hall of the Belgrade Fair to receive the Chinese vaccine against covid-19. Last Sunday, Serbia received one million doses of the vaccine from the Chinese manufacturer Sinofarm and yesterday became the first European country to start mass vaccination with that vaccine.
According to the vaccination plan in Serbia, employees in primary activities such as police officers, educators and soldiers will now be vaccinated, after last month the vaccines of the company Pfizer/BioNTek and the Russian Sputnik V were given to residents of homes for the elderly and medical workers.
Defense Minister Nebojša Stefanović said yesterday that 700 members of the army, including himself, received the Chinese vaccine.
"I was vaccinated with a Chinese vaccine that I have full confidence in... I said earlier that I would receive the same vaccine as our soldiers," Stefanović told reporters.
The Minister of Health of Serbia, Zlatibor Lončar, also received Sinofarm's vaccine, who pointed out that vaccination is "the only way to return to a more or less normal life, that is our goal." Lončar, as reported by Beta, said that as many citizens as possible should be vaccinated and that "everything that the state can do in the fight against the corona virus" has been done.
"I want to tell the citizens, they have no reason to be afraid. "These are extremely safe and extremely effective vaccines," he said.
Belgrade has close relations with Beijing and Chinese companies that have invested billions of euros in Serbia, mainly in infrastructure and energy projects, Reuters reminds.
Three weeks ago, China officially approved the vaccine from the state-owned company Sinofarm for general public use. According to preliminary data, the effectiveness of that vaccine is 79,34 percent, however, the scientific community criticizes the lack of transparency regarding the publication of data related to clinical testing.
In Serbia, 20 citizens have been vaccinated since vaccination began at the end of December. President Aleksandar Vučić said that in the next few days, Serbia expects a contingent of 000 doses of Sputnik V and another 250 doses of the Faizer vaccine.
However, Serbia is faced with the problem of distrust of citizens in vaccines against covid-19. Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said yesterday that there are one million and 55 thousand vaccines available in Serbia, while the registered citizens are significantly fewer. "We currently have 351.000 registered citizens, of which 67 percent are over 50 years of age," said Brnabić.
According to yesterday's data in Serbia, which has a population of about 7 million inhabitants, 3 people died of covid-771, and 19 people were infected.
Vučić said yesterday that Sinofarm's vaccine is safe for all age groups, including children, and that it has the fewest contraindications. When asked by a journalist if there was a reaction from Brussels to Serbia's decision to purchase a vaccine from China, he replied that he does not expect problems from the EU, but rather help and support.
However, he pointed out that it was smart that Serbia, "knowing the way of working in Brussels and in the world, conducted bilateral talks with all vaccine manufacturers". Among the EU countries, the Chinese vaccine could soon be on the market in Hungary after the regulatory agency there should soon approve the use of Sinopharm's vaccine for mass immunization. The European Commission has given approval to that country to negotiate with Sinopharm, although this vaccine has not yet been approved by the European Medical Agency.
In the Western Balkans region, vaccination has started only in Serbia and Albania, while Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia have not yet received vaccine supplies.
These countries relied mainly on Kovaks, a collective procurement system for vaccines for poorer and middle-income countries, which is not yet operational. Serbia has sent a contingent of XNUMX Pfizer vaccines to North Macedonia, and the chairman and Serbian member of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik, said yesterday that he, too, would request Belgrade's help in this regard. "Today I will send a letter to Aleksandar Vučić and ask him to allocate a part of the amount of vaccines to the Republic of Srpska, so that Srpska can also start vaccinations," Dodik said yesterday.
He assessed that the Kovax system is "obviously collapsing" and that no one has any information on when the vaccine will arrive in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
RS Health Minister Alen Šeranić also said yesterday that he expects the first delivery of vaccines for BiH and RS from the Kovax program at the end of January.
In Serbia, one million and 55 thousand vaccines from different manufacturers are currently available, but the number of registered citizens is only 351, which indicates widespread public distrust in vaccines against covid-000
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