Serbia's vaccine rollout 2nd fastest in Europe thanks to China

Belgrade, which purchased China's Sinopharm vaccine, has delivered to the Serbian population the second-fastest vaccine rollout in Europe at 4.6 doses per 100 people, according to a Jan 27 report from Euronews.

It is just behind the United Kingdom but ahead of the EU's largest nations thanks to importing the Sinopharm vaccine, which has also been approved in several other countries including the United Arab Emirates. Phase 3 testing rates its efficacy at between 79-86 percent according to interim results.

The president of Serbia Aleksander Vucic has compared the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Europe to the sinking of the Titanic - saying the rich are being saved while the poor of the Balkans are being left to drown, and he has little hope of receiving EU supplies.

Thanks to the delivery of 1 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine, Serbia's vaccination program is continuing apace.

Serbia has now received a delivery of 10,000 Pfizer doses, but Vucic said he would be taking the Chinese vaccine.