The acting Minister of Health of Kosovo, Armend Zemaj said that 75 percent of the population will be vaccinated against coronavirus, as the first doses are expected to arrive in February.
In a statement for the local news agency Ekonomia Online, Zemaj said that by June Kosovo “will have a significant number of vaccinated citizens”.
“According to the immunization plan and what has been determined by the NIPHK (National Institute of Public Health of Kosovo), we aim to vaccinate more than 75% of the population, and this means 2 million 700 thousand doses for vaccination in separate phases, by providing the necessary conditions and criteria,” Zemaj said.
He added that they will start with groups which are considered the elderly, the chronically ill and health staff.
“We hope that this dynamic will be fully completed in 2021,” Zemaj said, adding that the staff is trained and that adequate vaccination sites will be prepared.
In early January, Zemaj announced that they secured over 500 thousand doses of anti- COVID vaccine from Pfizer. The outgoing Prime Minister, Avdullah Hoti, had also announced an agreement with Austria for 600 thousand vaccines, as well as the “COVAX” program for about 700 thousand vaccines.
Kosovo reported 60,500 infected with COVID- 19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
There are currently 6,376 active cases in the country.
