Covid, Giliberti (Aics): “The parable of Bosnia, from the pro vaccine market to the no Vax”

From the street protests at the end of last winter, to ask to be vaccinated against the coronavirus when the doses were lacking, to the surplus of current vaccines, without anyone wanting to be given them anymore. This is the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina where, as Luca Giliberti, coordinator of the Re.Te. (Rete oncologica) / Aics, ” those who wanted to get vaccinated did so ”. And now ” the no vaxes do not organize campaigns or protests, but that large slice of the population that could and should be vaccinated ” does not. With the result that ” the canton of Sarajevo sees approximately 50% of the population vaccinated (with two doses) and is the canton with the highest percentage. Because the national average is 19.94% ”. And the government or other administrative entities ” are not able to convince the population to get vaccinated as European countries have managed with tools such as the Green pass. ” In Bosnia Herzegovina to coordinate the project co-financed by the Foreign Ministry and the ‘Italian Agency for Cooperation and Development, Giliberti explains that’ ‘at the end of last winter the pandemic situation in the country was very serious”. While the vaccination campaign had begun in Europe, the vaccines had not yet arrived here except through some donations from neighboring countries to vaccinate at least in part the health personnel. The reasons for the delay in the arrival of vaccines were linked to the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Covax consortium ”. Precisely in that period, ” since there are many deaths due to Covid and the availability of the vaccine, the part of the population eager to get vaccinated has started some protests against the government ”. At the same time ” Serbia had given its willingness to vaccinate anyone who came to Belgrade from any country they came from. This created between February and April 2021 a massive exodus of people who went to Belgrade to receive the vaccine ”, about 30 thousand. In the following months, the long-awaited doses arrived in Bosnia and Herzegovina and ” the vaccination campaign began. each of the 12 administrative centers managed independently ”. This was followed by “a first initial crowding”, explains Giliberti, but then “the vaccinations continued and continue slowly”. So, now ” there are vaccines, but the population is struggling to get vaccinated because those who wanted to do so have already done so and the rest of the population does not see the need ”.