EU-Funded Vaccines to Be Delivered to Western Balkan Countries

Society » HEALTH | May 5, 2021, Wednesday // 10:26
Bulgaria: EU-Funded Vaccines to Be Delivered to Western Balkan Countries

The European Union started delivering EU-funded coronavirus vaccines on Tuesday to the Western Balkans, news wires reported. The European Commission last month announced that 651,000 Pfizer-BioNTech doses will be delivered to Serbia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Kosovo from May to August.

Most of these countries have struggled to get coronavirus vaccines, except for Serbia, which had launched a successful inoculation campaign mainly thanks to millions of doses of China's Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik V shots, which have so far not been approved by EU’s drug administrator, AP noted.

Following on the footsteps of Serbia, the other Western Balkan nations have been turning to China and Russia for vaccines as EU nations faced their own vaccine delays.

China’s and Russia’s vaccine exports to Serbia and elsewhere came with soft-power messages, with politicians praising mutual friendship and criticizing the EU for not coming to the rescue when it was needed the most.

EU enlargement commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who traveled to the Western Balkans to formally deliver the vaccines, rejected such criticism. While in Bosnia on Tuesday, Varhelyi pledged that the bloc “will not let down” the West Balkan nations in their fight against the virus. “The delivery of the vaccines confirms our continuous commitment to provide support, as we have been doing since the outbreak of the pandemic. Stronger together!,” he said on the second leg of his 3-day tour of the region. His trip kicked off in Serbia on Monday and will include stops in Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo.

Several Balkan nations, most notably Bosnia, heavily relied on World Health Organization’s COVAX vaccine programme, which distributes vaccine to less developed nations. But COVAX deliveries were significantly delayed among shortages of the shots.

 

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Health » Be a reporter: Write and send your article
Tags: Western Balkans, vaccines, EU

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria