December 31 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia expects to receive a first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech in February, the government said.
The country will receive the first vaccine doses under an agreement reached between the government and the companies, with additional batches to be delivered in March and April, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
The number of available doses in the first batch will be confirmed in the following weeks, it added.
In the meantime, discussions are under way for the delivery of more vaccine doses through European Union (EU) member states and through the COVAX system.
North Macedonia's health minister Venko Filipce said in early December that the country has ensured the delivery of 833,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for 400,000 citizens through the COVAX system. The country has also applied to receive 800,000 vaccine doses through the EU.
The European Commission (EC) said on Monday it has approved an aid package in the amount of 70 million euro ($86 million) that will enable the Western Balkans countries to get early access to Covid-19 vaccines procured by EU member states.
($ = 0.8134 euro)