Acting Foreign Minister Gent Cakaj met with EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi virtually today.
The topic of the conversation was the provision of the COVID-19 vaccine in Albania at the same time as European Union countries.
“We started the day with a very important meeting with the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy, Oliver Varhelyi. We talked about the possibility for the countries of the Western Balkans to have the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as the countries of the European Union.”
Cakaj added that “we asked the Commissioner that the EU vaccination policy be implemented simultaneously in Albania.”
To date, it is not known when Albania will receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Prime Minister Edi Rama met with the head of Pfizer last week in the United States but no concrete outcome of the meeting was announced. He added he was trying to meet other vaccine producers as well, but so far, nothing has been forthcoming publicly.
At the end of November, it was reported that Albania had prepaid EUR 3.9 million for 570,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, via their membership of the COVAX initiative. This is enough for a single dose for around 20% of the population.
Albania is also a member of the Gavi Vaccine Alliance and it is hoped they will receive vaccines via this route.
Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that COVID-19 vaccinations would be free, but not mandatory.
