Vaccines readily available across Serbia with EU support

The EU also continues to financially support the employment of 200 health workers that will be engaged in 23 health institutions in Serbia, for a period of three months, thus providing additional human resources needed in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemics.

"Now, whenever we want to send vaccines across Serbia, we will no longer rent vehicles, but will be able to deliver vaccines to almost every place within 10 to 12 hours. The vehicles will go to 24 municipalities, from Sombor, Kikinda and Subotica, to Pirot, Vranje, Užice or Novi Pazar. We can do all that thanks to the help of the EU, which in this project alone amounts to more than 600,000 Euros. It is very important for us to say thank you, because it is the money of other taxpayers. We have now resolved a significant problem that we faced in the distribution of vaccines", said the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić.

"Since these vehicles will transport vaccines, I hope they will be busy, used and serving the best purpose and help speed the vaccination process, even to the more remote areas, thanks to the cold-chain delivery system . Solidarity remains the guiding principle of EU support for Serbia, and we are committed to supporting Serbia's needs, both in providing the necessary medical equipment and human resources and in protecting the most vulnerable members of the community who are largely affected by the ongoing pandemic. We are all in this pandemic together and only together can we get out of it, and in the meantime I would like to thank all medical workers who are working in the fight against the pandemic," said the head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Ambassador Emanuele Giaufret.

Ambassador Giaufret symbolically handed over the vehicle keys to the Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović and the Minister of Health Zlatibor Lončar, while the event was attended by the Director of UNOPS Serbia Multi-Country Office, Michela Telatin, the Director of the Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut" Verica Jovanović, and representatives of recipient health institutions.

The vehicles were handed over to the Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanović Batut", the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, the City Institute of Public Health Belgrade and the institutes of public health in Novi Pazar, Subotica, Zrenjanin, Kikinda, Pančevo, Sombor, Sremska Mitrovica, Šabac, Valjevo, Požarevac, Kragujevac, Ćuprija, Zaječar, Užice, Čačak, Kraljevo, Kruševac, Niš, Pirot, Leskovac, Vranje.

With the commitment of the EU Delegation and the Ministry of European Integration, 1.2 million Euros  were allocated from the UNOPS implemented EU PRO Plus programme for the purchase of these vehicles and the employment of workers. The donation is a part of a larger package of EU aid totaling over 10 million Euros in medical and non-medical equipment delivered during this and the previous year in partnership with the UNOPS office in Serbia.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the European Union has supported Serbia in the fight against the spread of the virus with more than 77 million Euros in donations, of which 20.7 million Euros were used for immediate assistance and addressing the urgent needs as well as strengthening the whole Serbian health system.