Serbia, vaccination model boy in Europe, is grappling with a renewed increase in coronavirus infections. Although a good 1.3 million people of the almost seven million inhabitants have received a first dose of vaccine and almost 880,000 the second, the number of new cases of the disease is high. Yesterday 5,476 new cases were reported, 36 people died after an infection.
Over 561,300 cases have been reported across the country since the pandemic broke out. A week ago, the government’s own crisis team decided to close restaurants and large shopping centers. The measure remains in force. The economy rejects a complete lockdown, and President Aleksandar Vucic recently warned that a two-week shutdown would cost the country an additional 500 million euros.
Serbia relies on vaccine from China
Meanwhile, there is debate as to why Vucic does not appear to be vaccinated yet. The media calculated that Vucic had already announced that he would be vaccinated ten times – most recently when he criticized the planned EU vaccination certificate. In Belgrade, there are fears that the Chinese and Russian vaccines could make it difficult for Serbian citizens to travel abroad.
The most common vaccine in Serbia is the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. So far, the country has already received two million doses, with another million expected in early April. This week 100,000 doses of the Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine and nearly 56,000 doses of the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer were also delivered.
