February 04, 2021

Not money, but geopolitics master public health

topic:	Health and Sanitation
located:	Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
editor:	Katarina Panić

These days I envy my cousins who have dual citizenship, of both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. They already have been in Belgrade to get the vaccine, and as from next week, they will travel there again to be revaccinated. 

"We are so miserable that we only see on TV how other countries vaccinate their citizens," one colleague of mine from Bosnia said. A few days later, he commented that we finally started the immunisation process - we got the refrigerators!

So, how did Serbia manage to vaccinate almost half a million people in less than two weeks and became the second top country in Europe in terms of vaccination per capita, right after the United Kingdom? 

Firstly, it is easier to get goods for countries with less than seven million people during the acute demand and supply imbalance.

Secondly, Serbia bought both Western-made vaccines and those from the East. Having received a million doses of the Sinopharm, it was the first European country to use the Chinese vaccine. 

Officials in Belgrade also announced the possibility to launch Russian Sputnik V production in Serbia. It seems the non-alignment between the blocks is an advantage here, although it is usually a disadvantage. Geopolitical flexibility allowed Serbia to negotiate with all sides. And the success partially relied on the long-lasting emotional background rather than on contracts. That is a kind of relaxed position, even a luxury, that huge players don't have.

Thirdly, the government had developed a software that enables citizens to express the preference of which vaccine they would like to get. It also opened phone lines since more than half of the population older than 15 is digitally illiterate. Mass inoculation started on 19 January. After you’ve applied, you receive a message with the time and date of the appointment. Once you approach the vaccination center, everything is done in less than 15 minutes. Such a good organisation in the Balkans is the exception rather than the rule.

Finally, high immunisation coverage is related to the lower influence of the anti-vax movement. Vaccine scepticism is smaller in Serbia because of the low computer literacy in general. The conspiracy theorists have been claiming for a year that the vaccine means microchipping. 

Even they are now quieter and more hesitant when seeing how people massively want to get their vaccine scheduled. 

Image by Manatee County Government. 

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