While vaccination against seasonal flu officially begins in Croatia today, where 460,000 doses were procured, and in Serbia the distribution of 500,000 vaccines has begun, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the delivery of a minimum of 75,000 is still late.
Authorities have assured us in recent days that the process of procuring seasonal flu vaccines has been completed and that delivery is expected at the end of this or the middle of next month, however, no one knows for sure when it will arrive while risk groups are waiting for much-needed immunization, Avaz writes.
As it has been stated so far, 50,000 vaccines should arrive in the Federation of BiH, and the Republika Srpska will procure about 25,000 doses. Through the local Health Insurance Fund, 20,000 will be procured for categories of the population entitled to free vaccination, while the Institute of Public Health will procure 5,000 doses for commercial purposes. Federal Minister of Health Vjekoslav Mandic, in a short statement for Avaz, stated that the vaccines would arrive on time.
Although there is a lot of pressure due to the situation with the coronavirus, he is still of the opinion that this amount will be enough, and he stated that it is not too late for vaccination in December and that there is no need to create additional pressure. Dr. Ednan Drljević, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Cantonal Hospital (KB) Zenica, explained that this situation with the procurement of influenza vaccines shows the attitude of health policy towards citizens.
While in the surrounding countries, but also in Europe, they procure huge quantities, at least 20 percent in relation to the number of inhabitants, in BiH, he stated, only two percent is procured.
