Approximately 40,000 AstraZeneca vaccines are expected to be delivered to North Macedonia today through the COVAX facility, while 100,000 Sinopharm jabs donated by the Chinese Army are set to arrive tomorrow, Minister of Health Venko Filipche said Friday.
24,000 vaccines of the AstraZeneca batch will serve as booster shots and the rest for inoculation of citizens over 70. Senior citizens are given priority over younger people, who will have to wait to get vaccinate.
“We continue to focus on senior citizens. A total of 160,000 people have applied for inoculation, of which 9,000 are aged over 70. Following their immunization, some 42% of the total population over 70 will be vaccinated,” Filipche told reporters.
According to him, the vaccination process is going well. Thus far, approximately 150,000 citizens have been inoculated, of which 30,000 have also received booster shots.
All citizens who have applied for vaccination, the Minister added, will be administered jabs by Saturday or Monday at the latest.
Regarding complaints of citizens waiting to be vaccinated, Filipche explained that municipalities that finished the immunization of senior citizens have launched inoculation of younger people.
“However, we decided at the start of the week to make 40 the cut-off age. Younger people will have to wait. We’re focusing efforts on older groups of citizens,” the Health Minister stressed.
