In the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Kosovar Health Minister Arben Vitia (48) would like support from Swiss football players with Kosovar-Albanian roots. You should convince the population in his country of the vaccination.
“I would appreciate it if the Swiss football players with Kosovar-Albanian roots would get involved in a vaccination campaign,” said Vitia in an interview with the Sunday newspaper that was published in advance on Saturday. But other personalities should also exert their influence.
Vitia herself appealed to his compatriots to have the syringe put in place. The Swiss Minister of Health Alain Berset (49) did the same on Friday: In a TV show for an Albanian-speaking audience, he also called for the corona vaccination.
“Compulsory measures for unvaccinated people”
“In extraordinary situations, coercive measures are also necessary for unvaccinated people,” Vitia said in a newspaper interview. Everyone must understand that the pandemic can only be fought with vaccination. Kosovo was the last country in Europe to start vaccinating on June 15. “Too late,” as Vitia said.
His country only wanted vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency EMA. The Covax vaccination initiative donated the first 24,800 doses to Kosovo only at the end of March. The first contingent of 1.2 million cans from Pfizer / Biontech arrived in June. In addition, there would be 100,000 from Covax and 95,000 from the EU.
Half a million US donated cans are expected these days, Vitia said. 410,000 doses are inoculated every month. The goal is to vaccinate a million people in Kosovo. The young state has 1.9 million inhabitants.
“It is a shame that compatriots did not vaccinate themselves, had the opportunity”
The situation in the hospitals in the country is difficult, Vitia reported. But the number of hospital beds has been increased and the Ministry of Health has hired 1,500 specialists to deal with the situation. In the current week, the hospital admissions have decreased slightly. “But we can’t breathe a sigh of relief yet.”
At the end of the summer holidays, the number of corona cases in Switzerland had risen rapidly. According to the federal scientific Covid task force, around 40 percent of those who were hospitalized in Switzerland were returning travelers. According to the information, it was a disproportionately high number of holiday returnees from Southeastern Europe.
The media repeatedly reported on Covid 19 patients in Kosovo who had entered from Switzerland. Vitia said in an interview that people in Kosovo are angry about people who brought the virus into the country. “The virus is everywhere.” It is regrettable, however, if compatriots had not vaccinated even though they had the opportunity. (kes)