Vaccination of healthcare workers and nursing home employees begins: 19,500 doses arrive today

Serbian Minister of Health Dr. Zlatibor Loncar met today with members of the National Coordination Team for immunization against coronavirus.

The meeting analyzed a detailed vaccination plan, set according to priorities for this week.

According to the plan and vaccination priorities, healthcare workers and residents and employees in social protection institutions, primarily in gerontological centers, will be vaccinated this week, said the Ministry of Health of Serbia.

State Secretary in the Ministry of Health Mirsad Djerlek said that that the plan is vaccinate around 11,000 people by the end of the week, Tanjug is reporting. According to him, another 19,500 Pfizer-Biontech vaccines should arrive in Serbia today.

In the future, he says, a detailed immunization plan will be produced on a weekly or on a ten-day basis. This week, vaccinations will be performed every day except on Orthodox Christmas (Jan. 7), including on weekends.

"We plan to vaccinate about 11,000 people by the end of the week, with half of the vaccines allocated for healthcare workers, and half for gerontology centers and social protection institutions," stated Djerlek.

The immunization of healthcare workers will start tomorrow with those working in intensive care units, admission triage centers, and Covid hospitals.

Sputnik V in use from tomorrow

Djerlek says that 2,400 doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V will be used this week, and that most likely a portion of that shipment of vaccines will be put into use tomorrow.

"In the first phase, the plan is to vaccinate about 720,000 people. In addition to healthcare workers, these are also residents in gerontology centers and social protection institutions, then those older than 75, citizens aged 64 to 74 who have other diseases," explained Djerlek, who is also the president of the National Coordination Team.

Asked about the interest in vaccination, he said that the interest is much higher than they expected. He added that this is a good sign, that people in Serbia have realized that without a vaccine, they cannot overcome a scourge like Covid 19.

The length of the first phase of vaccination will depend on the amount of vaccines that will be arriving in Serbia.

"The prime minister announced that about a million doses of vaccines will arrive in January, but I think it will be more than that," said Djerlek.

He added that healthcare workers who work in red zones will be vaccinated in Covid hospitals, residents in nursing homes in these facilities, while others will be able to receive the vaccine most likely be in healthcare centers.

Vaccination against coronavirus with the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine started in Serbia on December 24. At the end of the year, the first contingent of the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, also arrived.

The Serbian Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (ALIMS) announced on December 31 that this vaccine had passed all the tests and was ready for use.

(Telegraf.rs)