"Serbians as guinea pigs for Chinese vaccine": Chaos on social networks, here's truth about that

Photo: Tanjug/AP

Once again today, just like a couple of months ago, the topic started trending on social networks of Serbians being made available to a Chinese company to test their vaccine against coronavirus, in its third phase.

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Although the Ministry of Health has repeatedly denied this, Telegraf.rs once again reached out today, and we have been again told that this is not true.

The headline, "Serbia and Pakistan have made their citizens available to a Chinese company for testing the vaccine in the third phase," and a subtitle that says, "It's not a joke" - a video mentioning this is spreading on social networks.

The Ministry of Health has explicitly stated that this is untrue.

"That is absolutely untrue," the Ministry of Health told us.

Back in September, Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar said that conditions for a Chinese vaccine to be tested in Serbia had not been met.

"What I can promise to citizens of Serbia is that, as a serious country, we will be among the first to have a vaccine that is proven to be safe," Loncar said at the time.

He also explained that one of the vaccine manufacturers from China made an offer to test the vaccine in Serbia in the third phase.

"We started talks and negotiations, but we did not reach that phase because the conditions for the vaccine to be tested in Serbia had not been met," said Loncar, adding that Serbia will inform its citizens if that phase is reached, and if all conditions have been fulfilled.

He stressed that Serbia is not "a frivolous state, which can function on some other principle, when all the existing rules are not respected."

"We are not in that stage. If we do, we will say it. At the moment it (the vaccine) is neither being tested, nor have we fulfilled the conditions required by the Drug Agency," Loncar stressed at the time.

Meanwhile, the first doses of coronavirus vaccine should arrive in Serbia before the New Year. The vaccine will be available free of charge for all citizens of Serbia, and it will first be received by priority groups - healthcare workers, members of the police and the army - those categories of the population for which vaccination will be mandatory.

(Telegraf.rs)