The European Union in partnership with the World Health Organization are investing 7 million Euros in a regional project dedicated to support safe and effective vaccination in the Western Balkans. According to the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi, “With this new project to support vaccination campaigns in the Western Balkans in partnership with the WHO, the EU continues to deliver on its commitment to support our partners in dealing with the pandemic since its start. The project comes on top of our €70 million package to support access to vaccines for the region and to procure the necessary equipment for the campaigns.”
The project will have in focus the preparation of the effective reception and administration of COVID-19 vaccines, which will come through the COVAX mechanism and the EU vaccine sharing mechanism with EU Member States. Meanwhile, in the last months Prime Minister Rama has repeatedly criticized the EU for their lack of support towards the Western Balkans. On Tuesday, while waiting for the arrival of some doses of Pfizer vaccine, Rama delivered again some remarks on this issue: “Its quite a blow for the EU that Serbia is capable to send 4000 Pfizer vaccines to North Macedonia and the EU, even today that we are speaking, is not able to share at least a box with vaccines to the region countries […] Don’t make me talk more,” – said Rama.
The 7 million Euro project will help among many things the resilience against health emergencies, the development and testing of emergency preparedness plans, and the training of health professionals.
