Bosnia and Herzegovina still
“Lowering the purchase of vaccines to the entity levels is an attempt by Minister Gudeljevic to remove responsibility from the ministry she heads, which is responsible for defining the strategy at the international level, among other things, in the field of health and social protection. The result of the Council of Ministers’ inaction has led to Bosnia and Herzegovina not knowing when it will receive its first vaccines, while immunization in Europe, and even in the region, has already begun, “Marinkovic-Lepic said.
Leaving the entities to procure vaccines, despite scandals at the entity level such as the scandal with respirators, the MP believes, “shows the dysfunctionality of this convocation of the Council of Ministers and their carelessness for citizens”.
“There is no country in Europe that does not procure vaccines at the state level, especially because this is also a diplomatic issue. The involvement of Minister [Bisera] Turkovic in the processes of negotiations and diplomatic agreements is necessary, so that the necessary vaccines are available as soon as possible, but coordination ministries, in this coalition-based solely on the division of seats, does not exist.
”Yesterday, at the Joint Commission for Human Rights of the Parliament of BiH, I supported the initiative requesting that the Ministry of Civil Affairs start direct negotiations with the producers of coronavirus vaccines. It is obvious that the COVAX program has not yet started to give the expected results and that we need to find alternative ways to get vaccines, as the countries of the region are doing.”
“Transferring responsibility to the entities is just an excuse for inaction, from which the citizens have nothing,” concludes Marinkovic-Lepic.
