The vaccination process in North Macedonia is going well. So far, some 25,000 citizens have been inoculated at the Boris Trajkovski Arena. In line with the national immunization plan, Tuesday marks the end of the vaccination of frontline workers. Starting Wednesday, the rest of the 20,000 Sputnik shots will be allocated by age groups, Health Minister Venko FIlipche said on Monday.
He added that the rest of the Sputnik jabs will be administered same as AstraZeneca ones, at vaccination posts.
Minister Filipche called on citizens to apply for vaccination via the website vakcinacija.mk.
“Moreover, they can also sign up through their family practitioners, who are tasked with polling their patients, especially senior citizens, who should express interest in vaccination. Starting Wednesday immunization by age groups will resume,” Filipche added.
Senior citizens take priority, but vaccination of essential workers is also set to resume.
According to the Minister, essential workers, who are directly involved in managing the crisis since the beginning have been fully inoculated. These include employees in: the Interior Ministry, the Army, schools, the Labor Ministry, the judiciary, Parliament. He underlined expectations that the Parliament Speaker will express interest in vaccination of MPs.
Some 600 journalists over 40 and those with chronic illnesses are getting vaccinated on Monday. Their vaccination was organized by the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), the Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM) and the Ministry of Health.
AJM’s Mladen Chadikovski underlined that the rest of the media workers will get inoculated in the next stage of the process.
“Vaccination will protect the health of media workers and those who are in contact with them,” Chadikovski noted, stressing that the process was well-organized.
SSNM’s Tamara Grncharoska said that she was pleased with the interest journalists expressed in vaccination, underlining hopes that the process will resume and all reporters will get inoculated.
“I’m glad media workers expressed interest in the process, but a lot of our colleagues didn’t meet the criteria to get vaccinated right now. I hope vaccination will resume and we’ll all receive jabs because we are at risk. Many colleagues got infected, some died, others were hospitalized, but I hope we’ll manage to protect all journalists and media workers from the coronavirus,” Grncharoska added.
A batch of 2,000 COVID-19 vaccines from China is set to be delivered to North Macedonia on Monday, said Health Minister Venko Filipche.
He added that the batch has already arrived at the Sofia airport and will be transported to North Macedonia.
Regarding vaccination of pregnant women, the Minister told reporters that it’s up to the team of experts to issue recommendations based on analysis.
The chronically ill, he underlined will be vaccinated based on their age.
“The number of patients with chronic illnesses is high in every age group over 50, therefore they’ll be vaccinated based on their age,” the Minister said.
Regarding immunization of supermarket workers and taxi drivers, Filipche called for patience.
“I understand the interest, but I’m calling for patience and understanding. Vaccines will be available for all, we’re expecting deliveries in April, so apply and you’ll be inoculated when they arrive,” the Minister stressed.
