Serbia to begin coronavirus vaccination campaign

BELGRADE, Serbia

Serbia on Thursday will launch a free coronavirus vaccination campaign starting from nursing homes and also a representative of the government to set an example showing that the vaccine is valid, said the president.

Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday said the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine would start as of Thursday and either Prime Minister Ana Brnabic or Social Policy Minister Darija Kisic Tapavcevic would receive it as a sign of trust.

"We will leave one of us for another, to show people that every vaccine that our health system receives is good. If we managed to vaccinate a million citizens with the first vaccine by the end of January, it would be a great success ... The vaccine is salvation, the vaccine saved humanity and if it didn't exist, for some other things, the question is how many people would be on the planet. That is why it is important to start as soon as possible, to save as many people as possible," said Vucic.

Vucic also said Serbia is part of the COVAX system -- the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access plan led by the World Health Organization -- and has paid $4 million for the vaccines.

"I believe that from the middle of January, we can go for a more mass vaccination, about hundreds of thousands of people," added Vucic.

Serbia on Tuesday received the first batch of the vaccine.

According to a report by the Serbian Radio and Television, the first batch of vaccine, comprising 4,800 doses.

Serbia became the first Western Balkan country to receive the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.