Kosovo may reconsider its decision on three vaccines upon entry

Vaccination in France
EPA-EFE/Caroline Blumberg

The Kosovo Ministry of Health announced that this week it is possible to reconsider the decision on the obligation of foreign nationals to enter the country to submit a certificate for three doses of vaccine or two doses plus RT-PCR test not older than 48 hours, said the correspondent of MIA from Pristina.

According to the relevant Ministry on the official Facebook page, the possible change of the decision, which is in force from Saturday - January 22, will depend on the development of the epidemiological situation and the number of new cases of Covid-19.

- All measures taken were a result of the regular analysis of the epidemiological situation, consultations with health experts and the Advisory Committee on Covid-19, which are treated by the Coordination Committee on Covid-19, with the participation of the institutions responsible for pandemic management, the ministry said.

The epidemiological situation, says the Ministry of Health, is monitored on a daily basis, so that at the end of the week, the measures can be reviewed.

The decision of the Kosovo Government to tighten anti-covid measures, especially the obligation to confirm the receipt of three vaccines to enter the country, provoked reactions, both in the country and in neighboring countries.

Request for change of the decision, ie return of the previous obligation to submit evidence for receiving two vaccines, among others referred and the first Deputy Prime Minister in the Government of Northern Macedonia, Artan Grubi, as well as Macedonian Minister of Health Bekim Sali, who announced that he had conveyed that request to his Kosovo counterpart Rifat Latifi, with whom he had a telephone conversation.

Deputy Prime Minister Grubi in a statement to the Pristina portal "Indexonline" expressed surprise at the decision, noting that "the health situation is the same in Kosovo and in northern Macedonia and Albania, while the World Health Organization (WHO) and Western countries are considering lifting the restrictions."

"I hope that the Government of Kosovo will review this decision this week and return to the previous measures," Grubi said.

Regarding the new situation, they also reacted the mayors of the Albanian-majority municipalities in southern Serbia, Ardita Sinani (mayor of Presevo) and Nagip Arifi (Bujanovac), whoThe decision of the Government of Albin Kurti was assessed as a restriction on the freedom of movement of people and goods.

Residents of the Albanian town of Kukes and surrounding areas on the border with Kosovo today blocked the Morina border crossing between the two countries, urging the Kurti government to overturn a final decision that makes it extremely difficult for them to enter Kosovo, where many work. and need frequent communication for family and other reasons. They blocked the entrance to the country for about two hours, accusing the Kosovo authorities that this is not the first time they have made decisions that cause them unnecessary difficulties.

The media reported that the non-governmental organization from Tirana, "Albanian Economic Forum" reacted to the tightening of measures today, which also assessed that the mentioned decision significantly impedes freedom of movement, because many citizens can not receive the third dose of vaccine. because the prescribed six months have not elapsed since receiving the second vaccine.

Numerous figures from political and public life in Kosovo itself, including former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and university professor and political analyst Blerim Latifi, have asked Kurti to reverse the latest decision.

- I watched today's protest of the residents of Kukesh. It is so shameful to ban them from entering Kosovo. All the more so as it is done in the name of some anti-covid measures, which are completely ineffective. "Lift that ban on shame for our brothers, who in 1999 sheltered thousands of Kosovars who were forcibly expelled from the Serbian army in their poor homes," Latifi said on his Facebook page.

Following the sharp rise in the number of cases of Covid-19, the Kosovo government on Friday adopted new measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic, according to which, among other things, it is necessary to submit a confirmation of three doses of vaccines from Saturday. or two vaccines and a negative PCR test, not older than 48 hours.

Persons traveling in transit, foreign diplomats, children under the age of 12 and persons with a medical certificate that they have been exempted from vaccination are exempted from the obligation to submit vaccination certificates upon entry into Kosovo.

Kosovo citizens who have not received two vaccines, after returning to the country will have to undergo a seven-day quarantine in their homes. All employees of public institutions will be required to receive a certificate for at least two doses.

In the explanation of the new measures, the Government refers to the latest epidemiological situation, after the increase of the cases with Covid-19. Although according to the Kosovo Institute of Public Health, the situation is considered stable, it is said that the danger remains, due to the dominance of the Omicron variant of the virus.

In recent days, there has been a sharp increase in the daily numbers of infected people in Kosovo, so that in the last 24 hours alone, 2.243 new cases were registered, ie over 25 percent of those tested. The official number of active patients in the country, from about 700, as it was fifteen days ago, reached 19.519 yesterday, while medical experts expect to maintain the negative trend in the coming period.

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