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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia entered vaccination process prepared

Belgrade, 3 May 2021

Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic and EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi visited late today the Institute of Public Health "Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut" on the occasion of a EU donation of 1,170 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to our country.

Joksimovic and Varhelyi, accompanied by Director of Batut Institute Verica Jovanovic, visited the containers for PCR testing, which are a donation from the EU.

Batut Institute also received branded refrigerators for storing vaccines.

Joksimovic stated that Serbia entered the vaccination process prepared, it first relied on its own capacity and showed solidarity and humanity towards the region, but also towards Italy during the coronavirus pandemic, to which it sent equipment in April 2020.

The Minister expressed gratitude that 36,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are intended for Serbia, which will be delivered by the end of August, and thanked Varhelyi for conveying truthfully and objectively what Serbia is doing, speaking about Serbia's solidarity with the region, but also on the fact that last year he allowed the reallocation of unspent funds from IPA projects for the purchase of ventilators and medical equipment.

Varhelyi said that in the next two weeks the EU will donate 651,000 vaccines for the entire region, in addition to those that have been secured through COVAX programme for the Western Balkans, at Austria's initiative.

The fight against coronavirus cannot wait and I thought that the most important thing is to bring vaccines, starting with Serbia, the most successful country in the region in the vaccination process. It is clear that we support this region during the coronavirus pandemic. At the beginning of the first wave last year we sent financial support, Varhelyi said.

He stated that the EU helped Serbia during the pandemic, that it donated triage containers, as well as refrigerators for storing vaccines.

Approximately one million doses of the vaccines will be provided for the region through COVAX programme.

Serbia has not forgotten about the region, it has donated about 100,000 doses and now it is our turn to return to Serbia what it gave the region before us, Varhelyi said.

He noted that the fight against pandemic seems easier with a high rate of vaccination in Serbia, but nonetheless he called on everyone to get vaccinated.

We all have to be vaccinated, without that the pandemic will not end, Varhelyi concluded.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi and Head of the Serbian Mission to the EU Ana Hrustanovic were also part of the delegation that visited Batut Institute.

With the visit to Serbia Varhelyi started a tour of the Western Balkans, during which he will deliver vaccines to the countries of the region and talk to officials about the response to the coronavirus pandemic and the support of the EU.