Seeing how rich countries have cornered a big portion of the supplies of vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said it looks like they also want their pets to be vaccinated for the virus.
“It’s as if they intend to vaccinate all their cats and dogs,” he said.
Vucic is one of the world leaders from countries that are not rich who have been critical of rich countries stocking Covid-19 vaccines in quantities that are more than what they need.
Although Serbia paid 4 million euros to get vaccines from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX facility last year, it has not yet received any shots and last month began its immunization campaign with vaccines from Russia, Pfizer, and China’s Sinopharm.
Also, recent manufacturing delays in Europe raise concerns about whether drugmakers will be able to fulfill the multiplying orders.
“There are so many deals being signed that I think it’s hard to see how the numbers could possibly add up for all the doses ordered to actually be produced in the foreseeable future,” said Amanda Glassman, a public health expert and executive vice-president of the Center for Global Development.
Last week, the African Union completed a deal for 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, to be produced by the Serum Institute of India. That’s on top of a previously negotiated African Union deal for 270 million doses from several pharmaceutical companies and in addition to the 600 million doses Africa expects to receive from COVAX.
