Following his meeting with the head of Pfizer in the US, Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced that he has “opened a communication channel” with the company, and that its vaccine is “in high global demand”.
He promised that, thanks to the meetings he held in the US, Albanians will begin vaccination within February. He also said that he will keep trying to meet the heads of other companies, including Moderna and Astra Zeneca.
The Prime Minister announced that he travelled to the United States four days ago to secure vaccines for Albanians following face-to-face meetings with other US company executives.
It is yet unclear how many meetings Rama has held during the four days, besides the one with the head of Pfizer.
It also remains unclear whether or not these meetings bore any tangible results, besides “opening communication channels” with Pfizer, as Rama put it. Rama did not disclose whether or not he was able to secure any vaccines, and if so, how many, at what price, and when they will be delivered.
Albania is part of the Gavi vaccine alliance, an alliance of 80 countries, including the EU member states, that have allied to provide their citizens with the fastest secure way to procure the vaccine.
The Prime Minister did not explain why his meetings with company executives are necessary, seeing as no other national leaders seem to have pursued a similar strategy of obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine.
