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With the Western Balkans scrambling to source Covid-19 vaccines from multiple sources, the EU steps in to offer a helping hand.
All six Western Balkan countries will have early access to Covid-19 vaccines thanks to a € 70 million aid package agreed by the European Commission on December 28.
The package was adopted under the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA II) to help finance access to vaccines in all Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo) and It will be disbursed in the form of grants.
These grants are intended to help cover the cost of vaccines for priority groups in the region and the necessary vaccination equipment. The grants will allow Western Balkan countries to purchase various vaccines from the EU’s advance purchase agreements with six manufacturers, with individual EU members sharing a portion of their pre-allocated doses.
Privileged partners
“Throughout the pandemic, the EU has shown that we treat the Western Balkans as privileged partners. We continue to act in this spirit also in the case of vaccines, taking measures to allow a rapid start of vaccination campaigns for critical personnel and the most vulnerable groups in the region from the beginning ”, said the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi.
While the EU continues to support the COVAX initiative, the global facility to ensure fair and universal access to Covid-19 vaccines, and all Western Balkan partners have joined, it is expected that delivery of vaccines under that scheme begins later than the vaccination campaigns in the EU, which began on December 27.
Therefore, access to a series of doses from the EU purchasing agreements will allow the region to start vaccination in parallel with the EU member states. With the Western Balkan countries struggling to obtain sufficient doses of the various vaccines from as many different sources as possible, the EU’s decision to share its first batch is welcome.
In addition to the grants, the European Commission and the European Center for Disease Control are also helping the region finalize vaccination strategies in accordance with Commission recommendations to ensure proper campaign preparation and smooth administration of vaccines.
Serbian Prime Minister receives first dose of Pfizer vaccine, more coming in January
In Serbia, vaccination actually started on December 24, three days before the EU, when Prime Minister Ana Brnabić received a dose. Several other officials received the vaccine along with it, in an attempt to increase confidence in vaccines as Europe and the world fight to counter the threat to the immunization program posed by the anti-vaccination movement.
However, Serbia does not currently have sufficient doses to begin mass immunization, as only 4,800 Pfizer vaccines have reached the country so far. An additional 21,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected in January with a contingent of 1.8 million doses arriving through the COVAX mechanism over the next year. Serbia is also in talks with other manufacturers, including Russia and China, whose vaccines are also expected to be available soon.
Prime Minister Brnabić has said that one million doses of Covid-19 vaccines are expected from various sources in January.
According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, mass inoculation could begin in mid-January. For now, the available doses will be given to nursing home residents older than 70.
Uncertainty elsewhere
Meanwhile, in neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina, the exact date when the first quantities of the vaccine will arrive is unknown, but according to the country’s civil affairs ministry, the first quarter of 2021 is a realistic date.
Montenegro is doing similarly, with the first doses of the COVAX program expected to arrive in April. In Albania, the first doses are expected to arrive in January or early February. Like Serbia, Albania is also trying to obtain vaccines from multiple sources.
Kosovo officials have stated that the first COVAX vaccines are expected to arrive in March, although some Serbian residents of municipalities in northern Kosovo received a vaccine from Pfizer’s Serbian contingent, angering the Pristina government.
The move, which has the potential to provoke a new diplomatic dispute, has been criticized by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti and by Mr. Várhelyi, who expressed “concern”.
Regardless, President Vučić has suggested that Serbia still plans to offer more doses to Kosovo, even to non-Serbian residents.
North Macedonia will receive the vaccine around the same time as the EU, this time thanks to Bulgaria. The Bulgarian government has pledged to donate a portion of the vaccine shipments it has purchased directly from manufacturers.
So far, there are no plans in the Western Balkans to make the vaccines mandatory, but they will be provided at no cost to those who choose to receive them.
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