December 4 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's health minister Venko Filipce said on Friday the country has ensured the delivery of 833,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses for 400,000 citizens through the COVAX system.
The country is also in direct negotiations with British-Swedish AstraZeneca and U.S. Pfizer to procure additional vaccine doses, Filipce told a news conference streamed at the Facebook profile of local MIA news agency.
In addition, North Macedonia has applied to receive 800,000 vaccine doses through the European Union (EU). The EU will allocate to non-members some 100 million vaccine doses out of 400 million units it has ordered from several pharmaceutical companies, Filipce said.
The health minister said he does not have information when the vaccines are expected to be delivered.
Health workers, people over the age of 65 and people with chronic diseases will get priority when the vaccinations begin, he noted.
On Thursday, North Macedonia confirmed 1,342 new Covid-19 cases and 22 deaths. So far, a total of 65,231 people have tested positive to the disease and 1,847 have died from it.
COVAX is a global initiative aimed at providing countries with equitable access to safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines, once they are licensed and approved.