"Rich countries bought 53% of vaccines in advance"; when will mass vaccination begin?

"Rich countries bought 53% of vaccines in advance"; when will mass vaccination begin?

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated today that COVID-19 pandemic has undermined two basic principles of the modern world to the core: the principle of human rights and their respect and the principle of equality between individuals and between countries.

"Human rights and the pandemic are one of the most important topics, not only in our country, but globally, in the last 100 years, with the exception of the Second World War, the most difficult for humanity," Brnabić said at the gathering marking the International Human Rights Day.

"The world will be a harder place to live and it will be less fair after the pandemic," Brnabić noted and pointed out that the gap between rich and poor, individuals and countries, is turning into an insurmountable abyss.

Prime Minister pointed out that the whole of 2020 was marked by restrictions on rights and freedoms that are not remembered, in order to preserve the most important right - the right to live, but that countries were forced to introduce restrictions on freedom of movement. Brnabić pointed out that the fight against the pandemic is very expensive, because the equipment, tests, vaccines are expensive, which everyone is trying to procure.

"Nine out of 10 poor countries will probably not be able to receive the vaccine in 2021, because rich countries have already bought 53% of vaccines intended for production next year. And with those 53% of vaccines, only 14% of the total population will be vaccinated," Brnabić pointed out.

She pointed out that Serbia is fighting and trying to provide vaccines both bilaterally and through international mechanisms, such as COVAX.

Brnabić said that Serbia is doing its best to fight the pandemic in the best way, to protect the lives and health of citizens, but also their jobs and the economy, in order to continue to develop and make up for what was missed this year, which will, as he pointed out, be difficult.

"I guarantee that, when all this is behind us, we will continue to respect individual rights and freedoms, as before the coronavirus pandemic, and with the help of the new Ministry, which is a signal of how important human rights and social dialogue are to us, which we will try to protect and promote further," Brnabić concluded.