20.000 vaccines will come to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) from Serbia to the Republika Srpska (RS) at the beginning of next week. This is an agreement between the Chairman of the Presidency, Milorad Dodik, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic. Another donation that BiH will receive while waiting for the delivery of those that it paid for. Citizens are losing patience, the fight for life has been transformed into a street shout – for which BiH authorities do not show any reaction as it seems. April 13th is the deadline for them to prove otherwise.
”We absolutely do not want to wait for some donations that they will spoil,” said Maja Gasal Vrazalica, the organizer of the protest.
Citizens’ voice and protests. Disappointment due to non-procurement of vaccines. The voice of disappointment also reached the Prosecutor’s Office. The infectologist Bakir Bakas filed a criminal complaint on behalf of a group of citizens against the holders of executive power at the entity and state level due to ignorance when it comes to the procurement of vaccines.
“All of this means that they are completely incapable of doing anything regarding direct procurement, and they have proven it in the past few months,” infectologist Bakir Nakas stated.
The authorities were given the deadline until April 13th during which they are expected to act. Besides dissatisfied citizens who are seeking vaccines or resignations, we have been seeing dissatisfaction for months in Parliament through debates without any effect.
“Back in September, BiH signed an agreement on the purchase of two million and 112 thousand vaccines. The money for 892 thousand vaccines was provided by the Council of Ministers, and no one will have to pay that money again, ” said Zoran Tegeltija, the Chairman of the BiH Council of Ministers.
“Mr. Chairman did not answer my question – will he and the Council of Ministers resign or not?”, said the delegate of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH), Zlatko Miletic.
And there were mutual accusations of political leaders on the scene – who is hindering the vaccine procurement.
“We have done everything to reserve and make a draft agreement with the Russian manufacturer for one million and 100 thousand vaccines. Measures have been taken because we did not trust BiH in terms of negotiations with both the Chinese and the Russians, ” as the Chairman of the BiH Presidency, Milorad Dodik told.
However, the RS, which has started purchasing Russian vaccines, still does not have enough doses for mass immunization. Out of the 400.000 purchased doses of Sputnik, 42.000 of them arrived. Apparently, there will be no acknowledgments of responsibility, everyone has excuses.
“I can only do what the law allows me to do. Unless all of you, the public or I don’t know who, don’t want to force me to violate the Constitution or the laws of BiH. Sorry, but I’m not ready to do that, and my conscience is completely clear, ” pointed out the Minister of Civil Affairs of BiH, Ankica Gudeljevic.
“I invite everyone who can give proposal, idea, the possibility of procurement in any way. I work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so it will not bother me. We have opened every channel, but even amateurs can see that wholesalers do not play until the goods become commercial, ” said the Prime Minister of FBiH Fadil Novalic.
While we anticipate the larger quantities of vaccines ordered and paid for through the COVAX mechanism, a total of 142.000 vaccines have arrived in BiH up to now, after the Serbian, Slovenian, and Turkish donations. Apart from the announced new delivery from Serbia, donations from China and Malaysia are also expected, 50.000 doses of vaccines each, BHRT writes.
E.Dz.
