COVID-19 vaccination among Kosovo Serbs ineffective

While the epidemiological situation with the COVID-19 pandemic in the Albanian-majority areas in Kosovo is currently stable and the number of the infected people is low, in the Serb majority localities the situation is worrying. The number of the infected people in these localities is many times higher compared to the number of infected people in other areas in Kosovo.

Most likely the reason for this worrying outcome is the vaccine policy imposed by Belgrade. At the invitation of the Serbian authorities, Serbs from Kosovo went to Serbia to get vaccinated, usually with Sinofarm or Sputnik V vaccines, which were available in Serbia from the very beginning.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic welcomed the vaccination of the Serb population from Kosovo. In order to have as many Serbs as possible vaccinated in Serbia, Vucic ensured the coverage of transport expenses, including for the second and second doses. It was his strategy of showing that he “cares about his people”. However, only now the desperate results are showing his ineffective approach. In the recent weeks, the number of the infected people in those areas keeps increasing, and the situation is deteriorating day to day.

According to the latest data from the Kosovo Ministry of Health , on Monday, November 15, four new cases of coronavirus were confirmed. Whereas, the Institute of Public Health (under Serbian system) of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, reports that on that day out of 155 tested samples, 59 citizens resulted positive, which is  almost 40 percent of the total number.

On 11 November, only in Serb localities, a drastic number of coronavirus-infected persons was registered, where out of 154 samples tested, 70 were positive, which is 45 percent of the total number of samples processed. The number of infected in areas where the majority of the population is Albanian is many times smaller. Based on 1,427 citizens tested, only six tested positive that day.

This shows that in the recent weeks the situation with the pandemic in Serb majority areas in Kosovo is too serious, while a completely different situation is evident in other parts of Kosovo, mainly inhabited by Albanians.

Despite that Kosovo obtained western vaccines and encouraged on citizens to get them, Kosovo Serbs , avoided vaccination in Kosovo health system. In many occasions, Kosovo authorities called on Serb population to contact any health institution in the Republic of Kosovo if they need medical treatment, vaccination or any other medical service.

But, on the other hand, the President of Serbia has repeatedly called on Serbs from Kosovo to be vaccinated in Serbia.

Based on a survey conducted by the local Serbian media, the number of vaccinated is not at an enviable level and those who have been vaccinated in Serbia, have mostly received the Sinofarm and Sputnik V vaccines.

The epidemiological situation in the municipalities with the Albanian majority population is currently under control, which can be a result of vaccination. More than 700 thousand people have got the second shot of the vaccinate, while since the beginning, more than one and a half million doses of antiviral vaccines have been administered in Kosovo.