Only 2,683 citizens received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine yesterday, as Macedonia continues to face a major shortage of vaccines. Macedonia remains the worst performer in vaccination in the region, and ranks between 80th and 90th in the world.

The speed of vaccination has dropped tremendously since May, when there were up to 15,000 vaccines issued each day. Currently, those receiving boosters shots, which are kept in reserve, far outnumber those the newly vaccinated citizens – over 4,600 people received the second shot yesterday.

Meanwhile, over 456,000 citizens are waiting to get vaccinated, and many continue to go to Serbia, which offers a wide variety of vaccines, even to foreign citizens.

Healthcare Minister Venko Filipce, who has badly mishandled the procurement of vaccines, apparently in large part due to corruption, says that the only large shipment the country is currently expecting is that of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine, but that a more meaningful shipment of Pfizer vaccines is also possible.