BELGRADE – Exactly 293 days after the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in Serbia, vaccination against the coronavirus, which has so far claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide, has begun.
Today, the Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić, and the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Darija Kisić Tepavčević, received the first doses of vaccines at the Torlak Institute.
Government officials said they wanted to set an example to encourage the population and show that the vaccine is safe.
Although the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, previously announced that a million doses would arrive in Serbia at the end of December, 5,000 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is already in use in the United States and Britain.
Meanwhile, European Union countries plan to roll out the vaccine on 27 December.
According to the vaccination plan, the vaccine should first be given to people older than 70 in nursing homes. After the officials and people in the nursing homes, in 15 days, it is the turn of the health workers.
Mass vaccination could start in April next year, announced the Minister of Health, Zlatibor Lončar. Vaccination in Serbia will be voluntary and free, officials said on several occasions.