Nearly 1,800 children aged 12-17 will receive the Pfizer vaccine after their parents/foster parents signed them up at the vakcinacija.mk site as North Macedonia starts inoculating its younger population against the coronavirus in parallel with adults.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry said that some dozen cases of the Delta variant have been detected so far and no one was vaccinated before testing positive for COVID-19.

The health authorities have been emphasizing that the only way to prevent a new strong wave from surging and the more infectious variant from spreading is people to get inoculated in great numbers.

According to data released on Sunday by the Health Ministry, a total of 21 infections were registered in the past 24 hours after 3,358 tests were conducted. There were no deaths in the same time period.

Sixteen patients have been admitted to hospitals across the country for treatment. According to the Health Ministry, the epidemiological situation remains stable, hospital beds are available and only four patients are on oxygen support

“Even through the health system is prepared in case the situation worsens, we hope and we wish it didn’t come to that,” the Ministry said in a statement calling on people to get vaccinated as soon as possible in great numbers as statistics from around the world show that the Delta variant has been spreading amongst the unvaccinated population.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, North Macedonia has registered 155,922 coronavirus confirmed cases following a total of 930,540 tests. Of those, 150,170 people have recovered. Death toll stands at 5,487.

Currently, there are 265 active cases across the country, including 99 in Skopje.