Friday, March 29, 2024
 
 

Southeast Europe begins to tackle COVID-19 immunization delays

Supplies flowing from all directions although still in small quantities

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In terms of Covid-19 vaccinations, the gap between Europe’s haves and have nots finally appears to be narrowing, after many months where much of the southeastern section of the continent appeared to linger in a dead zone, receiving only symbolic deliveries along with an overflow of promises from Brussels.
For a fair overview, it is best to divide the region into three segments, separating the EU member states of Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece from the so-called Western Balkans, all of whom are non-EU members.  The EU member states are making slow but steady progress in vaccinations, as increasingly available EU-procured supplies arrive.  In some of these countries the Astra Zeneca vaccine has attracted fewer than expected numbers of interested citizens, increasing overall reliance on supplies from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. 
In the Western Balkans group Serbia’s outstanding performance as the regional vaccination leader places it into a separate category, since its vaccination levels far exceed that of most of the EU member states in the region and have for months.  Serbia has used a combination of Chinese and Russian vaccines with very small shipments of Western vaccines.  As New Europe readers will recall, Serbia has been able to administer about 44 doses per 100 population up to now and has also engaged in “vaccine diplomacy” by donating useful quantities to neighboring former Yugoslav republics and inoculating some visitors from those countries, in this way regaining some stature as a regional leader. 
The other five countries in the Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo have had little success in their mass vaccination programs but are beginning to move forward with small shipments from Western suppliers or even donations from interested countries.  In Bosnia, the shortage of vaccines has led to street protests.
The World Health Organization has established a global vaccine distribution system called COVAX, aimed at helping poorer countries obtain supplies.  Although slow to take its first steps, a few initial COVAX shipments had arrived in various Western Balkan capitals to great fanfare by end-March.  The EU supported and funded COVAX in its early stages in parallel with its own program, as have some other major donor countries.      
EU Coordination handed to Austria
Austria is serving as the coordinator for an EU vaccine sharing system covering the Western Balkans, announced earlier this year.  Accordingly, Vienna announced on April 20 that it would send 651,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to six countries in the Western Balkans by August and that more was likely to follow.  Explaining the program, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said, “With this initiative, we are showing that we are not leaving the region behind.”
Greece making less progress than anticipated
Meanwhile, on the southern edge of the region, EU member Greece is working diligently to contain the pandemic.  Unfortunately, realistic progress reports and foreign assessments do not match the current government’s narrative that victory over the pandemic is close and that the country will be safe for tourists beginning on May 14, a date many experts think is too early to open for tourism in view of the still-high infection levels. 
While the Covid-19 caseload in major urban areas is close to stabilizing at near-record high levels, a visible downtrend that would support the government’s optimistic assessments has yet to be recorded. The high caseload and unrelenting pressure on the health system is in stark contrast to the Mitsotakis’ government’s plans for a gradual reopening of the economy which has already partially started in many sectors but will accelerate after the Greek Orthodox Easter holiday ends on May 3, when outdoor dining will again be permitted.
As EU-procured supplies arrive, vaccination programs are being accelerated but as of April 22, only 785,000 (about 7.3%) of Greece’s current population have received two doses of all currently available vaccines. The Greek government also reports 25 doses have been administered overall per 100 people, on average. While a respectable number for southeast Europe, this number is close to the EU average level and far below Serbia’s equivalent statistic (44 doses per hundred people) using a mix of Chinese, Western and Russian vaccines.   
While the Mitsotakis government’s tourism promotion efforts continue unabated, the government has relaxed quarantine requirements for travelers that formerly needed negative virus tests plus a quarantine period after arrival.  From now on EU, Israeli, American, British, Serbian and a few other nationalities of travelers will be able to enter Greece simply with negative tests or other vaccination documents, without a quarantine. Existing lockdown rules will apply to all tourist arrivals though, diminishing the attractiveness of a visit before the “official” opening in May when most lockdown rules will be suspended. 
Confidence not yet established
Because the viral caseload is so high, several countries have called into question the Greek government’s claim of being able to guarantee a safe environment for travelers at this time.  Neighboring Albania imposed on April 19 a strict 14-day quarantine requirement for all travelers arriving from Greece and North Macedonia, making it clear that Tirana does not accept Greek assurances at face value.  Greece had imposed strict controls on arrivals from Albania last year.  
Even more painful for Athens was the April 20 travel advisory (for Covid-19) issued by the US State Department which read “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Greece due to COVID-19, indicating a very high level of COVID-19 in the country. Visit the Embassy’s COVID-19 page for more information on COVID-19 in Greece.” 
For unexplained reasons, the message was not released to US citizens in Greece or to the local media until April 22.  It is extremely unfortunate that Washington’s latest advisory, which included a large number of countries, was released at almost the same time as the Greek quarantine requirement for US travelers was relaxed but in a fast-changing environment such crossed signals are not unusual.  

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CEO/Editor-in-Chief.  Former US diplomat with previous assignments in Eastern Europe, the UN, SE Asia, Greece, across the Balkans, as well as Washington DC.

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