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VOA: COVID 19, Albania can look for Chinese or Russian vaccines
In an effort to ensure massive protection of the population against coronavirus, Albania may also look to the use of Chinese or Russian vaccines. At least this was hinted yesterday by Prime Minister Edi Rama during a statement in Brussels when he said that his country is looking beyond the already desirable sources of vaccines, while today he did not deny such a possibility, but avoided giving further explanations. So far, Albania has made over 14 thousand vaccines. The authorities have stated that they have secured a periodic supply from Pfizer & BioNTech, while Covax announced today that by May Albania will be given 120 thousand doses of Astrazeneca vaccine.
At a time when austerity measures are not yielding lasting effects and the situation of the spread of Coronavirus continues to be worrying, the vaccination process remains the safest mechanism to combat the pandemic.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said today that his dream and ambition is that "we have an intensive vaccination campaign to maximally facilitate the tourist season and to promote Albania as a country with very low risk in relation to the virus, as a result of a campaign intensive that will tear many links of the infection chain ".
Mr Rama acknowledged, however, that everything would depend on the amount of vaccines the country could guarantee: "In fact, it is a huge bet how long vaccine quantities should be provided and it is by no means the easiest thing to do today. "It's the hardest thing."
It seems that the difficulty in securing the vaccines that have so far been approved by the specialized American and European authorities, may lead Albania to turn a blind eye to Chinese or Russian products, although until recently this possibility was ruled out.
Yesterday in Brussels, where he was to attend the meeting of the EU-Albania Stabilization and Association Council, the issue of vaccines, as the Prime Minister himself stated, had been a long-discussed topic. In the press conference with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Rama made it clear that he is looking for other vaccine opportunities. "Although it was not our best choice, we are looking beyond the already desirable sources of vaccines," said Mr. Rama.
While today, when asked about this statement, and the fact whether they had started concrete contacts for Chinese or Russian vaccines, the Prime Minister did not deny it, choosing not to give further explanations. "Will you allow me not to make any comment", replied Mr. Rama.
So far, according to official data, Albania has made a little more than 15 thousand vaccines. Over 32,000 doses of Pfizer have arrived in the country, while a periodic supply of several tens of thousands of other doses of the Pfizer vaccine is expected in the coming months.
Today, the COVAX mechanism announced that by May Albania will receive over 140 thousand doses of Astrazeneca. According to authorities, an amount of more than 14 thousand doses of this vaccine is expected to arrive by March 15. VOA