Bosnia will start Procurement of Russian and Chinese Vaccines

Zoran Tegeltija, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH, said after a meeting with entity prime ministers Fadil Novalic and Radovan Viskovic in Sarajevo yesterday, that the pandemic is a global issue and thus the procurement of vaccines should be viewed, and that BiH will start direct procurement of vaccines from Russian manufacturers and vaccines coming from China.

“We have agreed on the purchase of vaccines through Covax, you know the distribution and that we have paid the full amount, but we still do not have vaccines. It is good that the vaccine appeared in the world much earlier than expected, and what is not good is that neither system the vaccine signed by BiH has not yet begun to be distributed, “Tegeltija said.

“Deadlines are the end of January or the beginning of February. Today, the situation will be much clearer through the help of joint procurement through the EU system. And today, we will have information on when,” he added, Nezavisne writes.

He pointed out that they decided to start purchasing other vaccines directly from Russian manufacturers and the procedure for purchasing the vaccine that comes from China. Tomorrow, the entities and the Brcko District will express their needs, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs will launch an initiative and a direct procurement procedure. We still believe that the covax system will follow the procedures, “Tegeltija said.

We expect official views of the entities on the need for direct procurement of vaccines. The Prime Minister of the Republika Srpska, Radovan Viskovic, pointed out that the Republika Srpska, through the Compensation Fund, has provided money for the purchase of vaccines against the coronavirus, while it has already applied for the purchase of Russian vaccines sufficient for immunization of 200,000 citizens.

Viskovic told reporters in Sarajevo that the process of procuring vaccines should be done together with the Federation of BiH, emphasizing that the entity governments have not sat cross-legged so far.

“Our wish has been expressed for the Russian vaccine, and we are ready to procure it together with the FBiH, if they want to,” said Viskovic, stating that he did not want to speculate on the deadline for the procurement of Russian vaccines, but hoped that it would be very fast.

He stated that Republika Srpska is going to the option of vaccinating up to 50 percent of its inhabitants, reminding that vaccination is free and on a voluntary basis.