-
How does Serbia cope with the coronavirus pandemic and how did it manage, unlike many other European countries, to avoid a complete lockdown?
- Let's go back to last year's situation.
Then the first need was to purchase protective equipment, and in conditions of shortage, when none of the countries in the world had sufficient supplies of protective equipment.
Then it was necessary to expand the hospital capacity so that medical institutions could receive all those in need of inpatient treatment.
We also began to train medical personnel on a massive scale to work with patients with coronavirus.
We had to decide on government restrictive measures to be effective and to protect the health care system, but at the same time we had to try to preserve our economy.
And when the acute phase passed and it became known that a vaccine would appear, we immediately started purchasing drugs.
At the same time, we continued to coordinate the work of the medical staff in the "red zones", and some specialists were redirected to the vaccination system.
And all this had to be done as soon as possible.
We got the current result precisely thanks to mass vaccinations - there is no need for harsh measures when immunization is progressing so quickly.
A decrease in the number of infected and severe cases, a decrease in the burden on hospitals is directly related to an increase in the number of vaccinated citizens.
-
What role did the Russian military specialists of the RChBZ play, who arrived in Serbia to help in 2020 at the height of the pandemic?
- I express my immense gratitude to President Putin and all Russians.
Despite the fact that Russia had a hard time at that time, they sent us specialists and equipment, everything that Serbia needed.
It was a tremendous help and gave excellent results.
She helped prevent the spread of COVID-19 - then there were no vaccines yet and the virus spread easily if you did not have time to disinfect everything and did not follow all safety measures.
Russian military specialists helped us a lot - they were in almost every hospital, in nursing homes, in government institutions, where the risk of infection is greatest.
They did their job to an unrivaled level, and we appreciate it immensely.
The value of Russian aid to Serbia is invaluable!
-
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic recently announced that there is a real war for vaccines in the world.
How did Serbia manage to get four vaccines while other countries in the region, and in the EU as a whole, faced vaccine shortages?
- I think that now it is already clear to everyone that this became possible thanks to the relations that Alexander Vucic built with the heads of Russia and China - Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.
Therefore, we were able to obtain Russian and Chinese vaccines in such quantities.
Also, thanks to the fact that our president raised the Serbian economy to a decent level, we had the opportunity to buy other vaccines: Pfizer and AstraZeneca.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic
Reuters
© Dado Ruvic
-
Earlier, you stated that Russia is the only country that provided its vaccine to Serbia for quality testing.
What conclusions did the Serbian experts come to?
- How satisfied we are with this vaccine is evidenced by the fact that we have gone much further: Sputnik V will be the first vaccine against COVID-19 to be produced at our Torlak Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Serums in Belgrade.
We have already produced two thousand doses, they are now in Russia for quality control and compliance with all procedures.
All this indicates how satisfied we are with this vaccine and are looking forward to the Russian side giving us the opportunity to produce it here - while in the packaging phase, and then in earlier phases.
According to our experts, Sputnik V is not only an absolutely safe vaccine, but also an effective one.
And not only our scientists are satisfied with it, but also the citizens who are grafted into it.
-
Serbia became the first country in Europe to start producing a Russian vaccine.
How is this process, and when the
"
Torlak
"
will be ready to move from the packaging to the full production cycle "Sputnik
the V
"?
- The first stage has been passed - Torlak is absolutely ready for it.
As I said, we have done several thousand trial doses, and when we receive the final approval, we will be able to start working in millions of volumes per month.
At the same time, we are doing everything necessary: we buy new equipment and expand our capacities in order to start a full production cycle.
This process is in full swing, and by the end of the year everything will be ready on our part.
However, this issue depends not only on us, but also on when the Russian side will also be ready for further steps.
If now, in May, everything goes as planned, then in June we will have large volumes, and then not only Serbia will be able to breathe easy, but the entire region - after all, there will be enough vaccines for all citizens, including our neighbors.
We believe that you cannot solve the pandemic problem only within your own country, because you cannot close it hermetically - the virus knows no borders.
He always follows people.
But if we have enough vaccines, and we can protect our neighbors, then it will be easier for all of us.
-
How is the immunization of citizens in Serbia progressing
,
how many have already been vaccinated and how many citizens have chosen Sputnik
V
?
- Vaccination is progressing well.
We have two groups of people: one is registered through an electronic system and a date of vaccination is assigned to them within 10 minutes, while others come to the points opened by us where you can be vaccinated without an appointment.
We are pleased with the number of vaccinated - the citizens of Serbia understood the importance of the problem.
Especially high response in Belgrade.
As for Sputnik V, according to the latest data, the first dose was received by 246,565 people, and the second - by 172,929.
We have a great demand for Sputnik V: a certain part of citizens want to be vaccinated exclusively with this vaccine, and they are waiting for the arrival of new doses in order to get on the waiting list for the Russian vaccine.
Since the beginning of vaccination, 218 thousand people have registered with the desire to be vaccinated exclusively with the Russian vaccine.
And there are still a huge number of citizens who have chosen Sputnik V as a priority option, but are ready, in case of a shortage, for drugs from other countries.
Vaccination with the Russian vaccine against COVID-19 "Sputnik V" ("Gam-COVID-Vac") in Belgrade
RIA News
© Alexander Milachich
-
According to the Ministry of Health, what percentage of the population should receive vaccines in order to talk about herd immunity, and how long will it take?
- In the next month and a half, we will already have three million vaccinated with both doses, taking into account the population of the country (about 7 million -
RT
) and the number of people who have already been ill and received natural immunity, this will be enough to keep the situation with COVID-19 under control.
-
In an interview with
RT
in
Asha colleague from Montenegro Elena Borovinich-Bojovic told about plans to make a purchase
e
nnogo in Serbia "Sputnik
the V
».
Do we know already Ob
e
we planned purchases and what esch
e
countries have expressed interest?
- The list of countries that are already awaiting the start of production of Sputnik V are North Macedonia, Republika Srpska (an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina -
RT
), Montenegro.
They will be ready to purchase the first lots of vaccines as soon as they are available.
-
When can this be possible?
- If production goes at full speed in June, then in July and August, I believe we will have enough vaccines to provide them for sale to interested countries in the region.
-
How did Brussels and the EU countries react to the purchase of Russian and Chinese vaccines and to the start of production
of Sputnik
V
in Serbia?
- None of the representatives of the Western countries have contacted me about this.
But even if someone called me, we would not change our policy.
The position of our country is that the problems in the health sector cannot be translated into a political plane.
And we believe that it would be better for everyone if politics did not interfere with the issues of medicine and health, then we would solve this problem much faster.
-
How noticeable is the politicization of the medical sphere now?
- It is obvious to everyone.
Some governments simply look at which country the vaccine is produced in and judge accordingly whether it is worth using or not.
I have never heard anyone say: we will not use this vaccine because it is of poor quality.
It's just that if it comes from a certain country, it will be abandoned a priori.
Serbia did not behave this way, we have our own principles: firstly, the safety of the vaccine, and secondly, the effectiveness.
Any vaccine that meets these conditions will be accepted by Serbia and available to its citizens to protect their life and health.
RIA News
© Alexey Danichev
-
Does Belgrade plan to buy other Russian vaccines in the future?
- Serbia is interested in purchasing the Sputnik Light vaccine, and we are working on this in the most serious way.
We are extremely interested in this vaccine and will do everything necessary to purchase it.
We already believe that this will be a good vaccine.
At the same time, one dose will be enough for the vaccination, and people will not have to go to the vaccination twice.
-
Why did the WHO
COVAX
program delay the
supply of vaccines to Serbia so much - the first batch (only 57 thousand doses of
AstraZeneca
) from them arrived in Belgrade only at the beginning of April?
- In the end, it was just ridiculous: we were told that Serbia already has enough vaccines, so it does not need to supply them.
At the same time, we paid in advance not only for the vaccines themselves, but also allocated an additional € 2 million to COVAX for research and improvement of vaccines, most of all.
But you saw what decision was made on their part.
However, we did not really count on them and we manage on our own.
-
Recently, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, accused Moscow and Beijing of using vaccines for propaganda purposes.
How would you comment on this statement?
- In my opinion, I repeat, the politicization of healthcare does not lead to anything good. In the pandemic we find ourselves in, there is no place for politics. It is necessary to demonstrate unity and solidarity, because this is the only way to solve the problem as efficiently and quickly as possible. And I hope that in the future, lessons will be learned from this and will act differently - in accordance with the principles of medicine, and everyone will unite in the fight against the pandemic. They will begin to look at the quality of drugs and vaccines, and not at the country of production.