Slovakia, the country with the highest Covid death rate in the world, has received a French donation of 15,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus, Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic announced on Sunday.
The head of government spoke of "great friendly gesture" and "very useful and sympathetic gift" from France to Bojnice, in western Slovakia, during a joint press conference with the French ambassador in this country, Christophe Léonzi, reported the local news agency TASR.
Bojnice, Slovakia - Christophe Léonzi, Ambassador of 🇫🇷, handed PM 🇸🇰 @i_matovic 15,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines.
Donation from the French authorities to the Rep.
Slovakia, hard hit by the #Covid pandemic #Vaccines #strongertogether #spolutozvladneme #europeansolidarity pic.twitter.com/hsCvfOgdU3
- France in Slovakia (@Ambafrance_Sk) March 7, 2021
According to the French Embassy in Slovakia, Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday with the Slovak President "to inform them of this decision and coordinate the delivery of vaccines".
"France, itself in a tense situation, thus expresses mutual aid and support for a friendly country facing an exceptional health crisis", explains the embassy.
Igor Matovic indicated that France supported the idea of an emergency shipment by the European Union of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to Slovakia.
On the social network Twitter, Igor Matovic said "hoped" that his country "will also be available to help others".
Today #Slovakia has received 15,000 #AstraZeneca vaccines from #France in the name of European solidarity.
This vaccine reduces hospitalizations by 94%.
This is what Slovakia needs the most.
I hope soon we will be able to help others too.
Thank you dear friends!
🇸🇰🤝🇫🇷 @ Ambafrance_Sk pic.twitter.com/JYAYaMIkjM
- Igor Matovic (@i_matovic) March 7, 2021
Slovakia, a European Union country of 5.4 million inhabitants, recorded an average of 24.09 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants over the last 14 days, the highest rate in the world.
On Sunday, the Slovak health ministry said it had identified the South African variant of the virus among the new cases.
As of March 6, Slovakia deplored 95 deaths on average each day over the past week.
