Civil Affairs Respond: Will Bosnia and Herzegovina Receive Vaccines Before April?

(Patria) - Following reports in some media that Bosnia and Herzegovina will not receive the vaccine through the COVAX mechanism until April, because BiH has not fulfilled the required conditions, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has responded.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina has fulfilled all obligations in accordance with the requirements of the COVAX mechanism. The full amount for the ordered 1,232,000 doses was paid within the requested deadline. For the purpose of respecting the ultra-cold chain procedure, BiH currently has refrigerators capable of receiving over one million and 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. All refrigerators have been calibrated and mapped by accredited laboratories and are therefore already largely ready for the arrival of the vaccines.

For the purpose of import, we have identified the relevant institutions, made them available 24/7, and adopted the Decision on coordination of procedures for the emergency import of medicines intended for the treatment or prevention of the infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, implemented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH.

With the defined roadmap of upcoming activities, determined priority groups for vaccination, adopted vaccination plans, strengthened ultra-cold chain capacities for receiving over 1,100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine as of today, established method of vaccine entry into BiH, designated wholesaler that will perform import, storage, and distribution services of the vaccine and which is in the register of the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of BiH with the necessary GDP certificate, we have confirmed our readiness.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's readiness to receive the Pfizer vaccine has been confirmed by COVAX, UNICEF, and the latest report of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe, which unequivocally states that BiH is ready to receive the purchased and paid quantity of the Pfizer vaccine. This is also supported by the fact that a certain quantity of the first allocation for BiH has already been determined. All relevant institutions for reception have been involved: the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the competent institutions of the entities and Brčko District, institutes and agencies, the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of BiH, the Indirect Taxation Authority, the International Airport in Sarajevo as the entry point into BiH...

Therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina has ordered, paid for, and secured all conditions for receiving the vaccines. All conditions set so far have been met, and new requirements from the vaccine manufacturer are being placed before BiH, which leads us to believe that this is a matter of buying time due to insufficient production at the global level. We invite COVAX, WHO, UNICEF, and vaccine manufacturers to come to BiH and personally verify again the readiness to receive any vaccine, instead of repeatedly setting additional conditions that only prolong the delivery," the statement said.