Serbia authorizes third injection of COVID-19 vaccine, minister says

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A woman is vaccinated against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Usce shopping center, where the first 100 vaccinated will receive a discount voucher worth 3,000 dinars ($ 30.74) guaranteed by management and retailers at the mall, in Belgrade, Serbia, May 6, 2021. REUTERS / Marko Djurica

BELGRADE, Aug. 15 (Reuters) – Serbian health authorities have authorized a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines for people with weakened immune systems, health workers and anyone who was vaccinated at least six months ago, said Sunday the country’s Minister of Labor.

The Balkan country is facing an increase in coronavirus infections, with an average of more than 900 cases per day last week due to the highly contagious Delta variant. It has so far vaccinated more than 50% of its population of around 7 million.

In a live broadcast by public television RTS, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, doctor and Minister of Labor of Serbia, said that health authorities would start administering the third dose of vaccines to immunocompromised from Tuesday.

“Citizens who received their injections at least six months ago can also request to receive the third dose,” said Kisic Tepavcevic.

She did not specify which vaccine would be used for the third dose.

Serbia is currently using COVID-19 vaccines from four manufacturers; Pfizer / BioNtech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE), Chinese Sinopharm, AstraZeneca / Oxford (AZN.L) and Russian Sputnik V.

So far, COVID-19 has killed 7,167 people in Serbia, while 732,044 have fallen ill.

Reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Alison Williams

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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