Albania launched its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Monday, January 11, with doses offered by a European country, but its prime minister accused the European Union of having neglected the Balkans in its immunization process.
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Vaccines have been distributed for two weeks in member countries of the European Union, but most of the Balkan countries, a poor region which aims to join the bloc, have still not started to vaccinate their populations.
The countries of this region have reserved vaccines, in particular via the Covax international aid system for the poorest countries, but are still awaiting the first deliveries.
Except Serbia, which started vaccinating on December 24, even before the countries of the European Union.
The vaccination campaign began in Tirana with 975 doses of the American-German Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine "
given to Albania by a country of the European Union,
" said Prime Minister Edi Rama, one of the first to be vaccinated in the country. stadium in the capital where a vaccination system has been set up.
"
We expect to receive some 2,000 additional doses from the same European country in the next two days
," Rama said.
He explained that he could not disclose the name of the country which transferred these first quantities of the vaccine to his country.
"
That's what explains how frustrating this situation is
," he said.
And to add: "
Within the framework of these agreements between States, those who want to help must also be careful not to show themselves because they will be assailed by other requests
", explained the head of the Albanian government.
He criticized the EU for not including Albania and the other countries of the Western Balkans in its immunization program.
When the bloc launched immunization, on December 27, it could have given it “
immediate access also to the countries of the Western Balkans, if only to have doses to vaccinate their front-line personnel.
But they didn't
, ”Rama said.
Albania has ordered 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and is expected to receive them later in January.
The authorities intend to first vaccinate some 23,000 employees in the health sector.
In early January, thirteen EU member states urged Brussels to help neighboring countries to the east of the Union to vaccinate their populations.
The EU had already adopted in December an envelope of 70 million euros to help the countries of the Western Balkans to cover the cost of vaccination.
Nearly 64,000 people have been infected to date in Albania, a country of 2.8 million inhabitants, while some 1,250 people have died from Covid-19.