10,000 AstraZeneca jabs, a donation from Croatia, arrived in North Macedonia on Thursday. They will be distributed to vaccination centers nationwide at the beginning of next week. The Croatian government has also decided to donate additional 20,000 AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines to North Macedonia, Health Minister Venko Filipche said during a joint press conference with Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić-Radman on Friday.
Filipche also told reporters that he and Radman held a meeting and discussed the epidemiological situation and COVID-19 measures, as well as shared experiences, plans and expectations for the upcoming period.
“Croatia managed well the onset of the crisis, when it held the EU Presidency in the first half of 2020. It activated several mechanisms and managed to provide a unified response within the EU despite differences between health systems. In that regard we discussed expectations for the fall, as well as organizing processes over the summer,” the Minister said.
Minister Radman addressed the news briefing in Macedonian, stressing that Friday’s donation of 10,000 vaccine doses demonstrates Croatia’s readiness to offer assistance to its closest neighbors in the fight against the coronavirus.
“Our efforts don’t stop here. The Croatian government decided at its Thursday session to donate additional 20,000 vaccine doses to North Macedonia,” Radman underlined.
According to him, efficient vaccination is the only way to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, expressing the need to balance gradual reopening of borders and public health.
