The European Commission adopted a package of €70 million to help fund the access of Western Balkans partners to COVID-19 vaccines procured by EU Member States. The package will be disbursed in the form of grants that will help cover the cost of the vaccines for priority groups in the region, as well as necessary vaccination equipment. It will enable the Western Balkans to purchase a number of vaccines from the EU Advance Purchase Agreements with six manufacturers, with individual EU Member States sharing a part of their pre-allocated doses.
For Olivér Várhelyi, the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, this package will help the recovery of the Western Balkans: “Throughout the pandemic, the EU has shown that we treat the Western Balkans as privileged partners. We continue to act in this spirit also in the case of vaccines, by taking steps to enable a quick start of vaccination campaigns to critical staff and most vulnerable groups in the region early on. Swift vaccination will be decisive in ending the pandemic and launching the socio-economic recovery of the Western Balkans.”
The EU Ambassador in Albania Luigi Soreca wrote also on Twitter that the EU has shown on many occasions that Albania and the other countries of the Western Balkans are “privileged partners”, adding that: “The EU continues to act in this spirit also in the case of vaccines, with allocation today of 70 million euro to enable starting vaccination campaigns to critical staff and most vulnerable groups as soon as possible with the direct contribution of vaccines by the EU Member State.”
While the EU continues to support the COVAX initiative, the world’s facility to ensure fair and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, where all Western Balkans partners have signed up, the delivery of vaccines under that scheme is expected to start later than the vaccination campaigns in the EU. Access to a number of doses from the EU purchase agreements will therefore enable the region to start vaccinations in parallel with EU Member States.
