It's a shame that the internet is a virtual medium, because there are a lot of people out there that I'd like to express my deep feelings of friendship to, and having spent the last two years here in Serbia, I'd like to do it in a truly Serbian way.
First Dose of H1N1 Vaccines Arrived in Serbia
Belgrade | 30 November 2009 | Bojana Barlovac
Samples of the Novartis vaccine shots will be submitted to the country's Drug Agency.
In an interview with the Tanjug news agency, a member of the Health Ministry’s working group for controlling the swine flu pandemic Branislav Tiodorovic said that if the vaccine is approved by the Agency it will be distributed throughout Serbia.
He expressed his hopes that the vaccine will be examined within 10 to 15 days so that vaccination will begin by the middle of December.
A swine flu epidemic in the country was announced on 11 November. Immediately after, the Serbian government provided additional funds to purchase three million doses of vaccines against the infection.
The country has confirmed 373 swine flu cases so far, 22 fatalities and about 529 people have been hospitalised with flu-related diseases, of which 28 are on respirators.
According to the ministry's working group, a second wave of swine flu cases is expected these days.
Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic has once again called on citizens to get vaccinated against the flu, stressing that there is no a single argument against the vaccine.
Milosavljevic told the daily Blic that the risk for a person to catch the influenza is ten per cent, but it increases to 43 per cent if the person has a small child. "I don't know whether the risk is large or small... Citizens are given the opportunity to avoid it. Therefore, the question is - the vaccine or the disease," the minister said.
For more information please see: Swine Flu Catches Up With Balkans
