Balkans battling COVID surge
Several nations in region stepping up pandemic restrictions
BELGRADE, Serbia — Struggling with surging COVID-19 infections, several Balkan countries announced Wednesday that they would step up restrictions in hopes of easing the pressure on their overburdened health systems.
Doctors in Bosnia’s capital of Sarajevo warned that infections have “exploded” in recent days and urged people to comply with pandemic regulations. Illustrating the rise in infections, long lines of people waiting to see doctors formed outside COVID-19 wards and outpatient clinics in the city.
On a positive note, the first Astrazeneca vaccine doses donated by neighboring Serbia were administered in Sarajevo on Wednesday.
Bosnian authorities said that all bars, restaurants and nonessential shops in the Sarajevo canton will be shut this weekend.
More than 1,000 new infections and 37 deaths over the past 24 hours were reported Wednesday.
“These are hard days, and once again we appeal to citizens to be maximally vigilant and to take care so they can help us to keep the health system stable,” said Ismet Gavrankapetanovic, head of the Sarajevo General Hospital.
In Serbia, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said the government-appointed virus crisis body probably will meet Thursday to decide on tighter measures for the upcoming weekend.
The country of 7 million has given more than 1.5 million people at least one dose from an array of vaccines including China’s Sinopharm, Pfizer-biontech, Russia’s Sputnik V, and Astra-zeneca, placing Serbia among countries with the highest vaccination rates in Europe. Nonetheless, Serbia is reporting more than 4,000 new infections daily and doctors have described the situation as alarming. In other developments:
The European Commission has secured an agreement with Pfizer-biontech to get an extra 4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to fight a worrying surge of coronavirus clusters that are prompting EU nations to slap on border restrictions. The EU’S executive arm said the deal will help “tackle coronavirus hot spots” and facilitate free border movement. The extra doses, to be delivered in the next two weeks, come in addition to previously planned vaccine deliveries.
The German government said Wednesday it expects the supply of coronavirus vaccines to rise steadily in the coming months, hitting a peak of almost 10 million doses a week in July. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert dampened hopes of a sudden surge, but said mathematical models used by the government indicate the weekly supply could reach nearly 5 million by the end of April.
The head of a Swiss pharmaceutical company said Wednesday that hopes behind a deal with Russia to produce the Sputnik V vaccine in Italy are to sell it to EU countries, if regulators approve the jab. The first agreement to make the Sputnik V in any EU country was signed Tuesday.