Greece: Of all the countries on the Balkan Peninsula, Greece has the highest vaccination rate. 59 percent of the total population received at least one dose, which is slightly above the Swiss rate of 52 percent. Nevertheless, the virus hit hard during the summer holidays: All protective measures failed on the party island of Mykonos, and supposedly safe travel turned into pure corona chaos. The speed of the corona spread is currently around the Swiss level.
Slovenia: Here, 48 percent of the population received at least one spade, which is enough for second place in the Balkans in terms of vaccination quota. Compared to the EU average of 65 percent, this is low. For this purpose, the certificate is used relatively widely in Slovenia.
Serbia: Serbia started out really steaming when it came to vaccination. The Chinese vaccine Sinopharm and its Russian counterpart Sputnik are also used, and head of state Aleksandar Vucic even announced a cash bonus for those willing to vaccinate. The result was still a vaccination rate of only 43 percent. And that couldn’t save the country from becoming a hotspot during the summer vacation. With a 7-day incidence of 325, Serbia is colored deep red on all Corona world maps and landed on various risk lists.
Croatia: Like Serbia, Croatia has a vaccination rate of 43 percent. During the summer holidays, the country tightened various protective measures, especially for the tourist areas on the Adriatic coast. In July there were still no corona deaths on some days, now the current weekly average is six deaths per day.
North Macedonia: In a report by the Covid task force at the end of August, the country was explicitly named as a hotspot for infections from Swiss holiday travelers. With high infection rates and a vaccination rate of just 35 percent, the country is still in bad shape. Particularly tragic: The corona deaths have risen from almost zero in July to currently just under 30 per day.
Montenegro: Corona is not spreading faster in any country at the moment. With a 7-day incidence of 595, the situation in Montenegro is very serious. At 34 percent, the vaccination rate is just above that of Kosovo. In 2020, Montenegro received aid deliveries from Austria to cope with the pandemic. Even patients were taken on.
Kosovo: Corona has also spread rapidly in Kosovo recently, albeit a little more slowly than in Montenegro: The 7-day incidence was over 700 during the summer holidays, but has now fallen to a still very high 490. Only 16 percent of the population are fully vaccinated, including initial vaccinations, the value rises to 30 percent. This was where the virus struck in the summer: while the party was unsuspecting, Rega had to fly into the country over 20 times to bring Covid patients back to Switzerland. The deaths have reached a new all-time high, with up to 26 corona deaths per day.
Albania: With a vaccination rate of 29 percent, the situation in Albania is similar to that in Kosovo. The virus is spreading quickly, but much more slowly than in neighboring Kosovo. And according to official information, the death rate is still in the low single-digit range.
Romania: Around 27 percent of the Romanian population is only fully vaccinated. The government has already passed a million vaccine doses on to other countries because otherwise they would expire due to the low demand.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: The second to last place in terms of vaccination rate: only 17 percent, including first vaccinations. The 7-day incidence is 117.
Bulgaria: With a vaccination rate of 16 percent, the country comes last. One of the reasons for this is that conspiracy theories are widespread in Bulgaria, according to the analysis of various experts. New corona restrictions come into force this week because the death rate is also rising sharply. The health system is under “serious pressure,” said interim minister Stoycho Kazarov on Friday. In addition, the vaccination campaign is to be boosted with vouchers. (sac)