Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce said that once the Covid-19 vaccine is made available in Macedonia, it will not be mandatory at first, but promised that he and his family will take it. Filipce famously “fake-vaccined” his niece in an attempt to quash anti-vaxxers, which spectacularly backfired.

The vaccine will not be mandatory, at least not at start. We will see how things develop, Filipce said.

He added that AstraZeneca already offered to sell a number of the so-called “Oxford vaccines” which he expects will be made available in early 2021. The Healthcare Ministry is also doubling the number of flu shots that will be made available.