Two days after the Prime Minister’s Rama Director of Communications, Endri Fuga, wrote that the Western Balkans were left on their own regarding the vaccine against COVID-19, the Russian Embassy stepped in. Through a message on Facebook, the Russian Embassy said that the Russian Direct Investment Fund is authorized to start the negotiations with each country interested in buying the Russian vaccine against COVID-19. “We have no doubts that Russia is ready to bring its vaccine “Sputnik-V” also in Albania. The vaccination process with “Sputnik-V” has started in Russia and Argentina, while more than 50 countries have applied to buy 1,2 billion dozes,” said the message from the Embassy.
The comments from Fuga drew a lot of criticism and irony in the web, with journalists reminding him that the responsibility to get the vaccines in Albania was not a problem of the EU, but of the Albanian government. They were quick to recall also the visit of Prime Minister Rama to the Pfizer Headquarters earlier this month, to try to get the vaccine in Albania. “I thought Rama had an agreement with Pfizer and is “close” to AstraZeneca? […] It’s not the EU’s responsibility to get Albania the vaccine, it’s the government’s,” wrote one of the commentators. Another one reminded Fuga how Serbia instead of attacking the EU, managed to start the vaccination: “1.Didn’t hear that from Serbian officials, rather heard vaccination just started across Serbia. 2. Are you admitting Rama’ visit to US was a failure?”.
Nevertheless, the EU Commission adopted today 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.
As for the Russian vaccine, the Embassy listed the advantages of the Russian vaccines compared to the other ones, which include: “cost per dose is less than 10 dollar which is two or more times cheaper than many other vaccines against COVID-19; proven stability at +2 to +8 °C significantly improves worldwide logistics of Sputnik V; more than 40 countries, representing over 50% of the world population, have expressed interest in Sputnik V vaccination. Preliminary orders for over 1.2 billion doses of the vaccine have been made,” concluded the Embassy.
