The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bisera Turković said that B&H has already taken serious steps in procuring a large amount of vaccines against COVID-19 for the most endangered and priority groups of citizens that should arrive in the first quarter of 2021, reports Anadolu Agency (AA).

Turković took part in an online meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, who was also with Ministers of Foreign and European Affairs of the Western Balkans. The meeting discussed the possibilities for the procurement and distribution of an additional number of vaccines against COVID-19, according to the needs expressed by the countries of the region.

- Our country, as well as other countries in the region, expect further assistance from their European partners in the procurement of additional doses in order to achieve the highest possible vaccination rate - said Turković.

The drama with the procurement of vaccines in B&H through the COVAX mechanism has been going on for days, after the information arrived that the FB&H Government did not pay the required amount on time, while the Republic of Srpska and the Brčko District did so. However, the B&H Ministry of Civil Affairs, which signed the agreement with the Global Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), said yesterday that the deadline for payment of funds had been extended to December 23rd.

The FB&H Government announced yesterday that a decision was made to redistribute 11,700,000 KM from the budget position of the Federal Ministry of Finance to the Federal Ministry of Health, with the aim of enabling the payment of the remaining funds for the procurement of vaccines against COVID-19 through the COVAX mechanism.