prijava
SARAJEVO, March 18 (FENA) - It has been said many times that Republika Srpska was more efficient than the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina when it comes to procuring vaccines, but if we wanted to play the role of the state, we would procure vaccines in December last year, said FBiH Prime Minister Fadil Novalić in his address to the deputies of the House of Representatives of FBiH.
“I'll list some data about Covid-19 cases. The Federation of BiH registered 96,902 confirmed cases of coronavirus until yesterday, the Republika Srpska 47,450 and exactly in that ratio, the number of inhabitants is one to two. When it comes to deaths - 3,080 in the Federation of BiH and 2,405 in the Republika Srpska, the ratio is not even close to the ratio of one to two. First and foremost, I would like to commend our health care system,” Novalić added.
At the beginning of his address, he emphasized that the procurement of vaccines against coronavirus is a geopolitical issue and all over the world states are in charge of that and most often presidents.
“As for the COVAX mechanism, FBiH, as well as Republika Srpska and Brčko District, fulfilled all obligations on time. We have provided sufficient financial resources for the purchase of additional doses of vaccines in the budget for this year, and if necessary, that amount of funds can be increased,” he added.
He underlined that at the meeting with all three members of the BiH Presidency, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and the entity Prime Ministers they were informed that it was not known when the delivery of vaccines through the COVAX mechanism would begin and that they need to start procuring vaccines for the entities, and until then no one thought of taking over state jurisdiction.
It is important to note, said Novalić, that the Republika Srpska, according to the established principle, conducted state jurisdiction through parallel activities, and since then all levels of government, including cantons, have been invited to try to procure vaccines, and some cantons have started that activity.
Within 20 days, after the meeting in the Presidency, the Government of FBiH, through the Institute of Public Health, started and completed the procedure and today the signing of the contract for the supply of 500,000 Sputnik V vaccines is expected, for 14.31 euros per dose. The first delivery of 100,000 doses is expected next week.
“With its decision, the Government left the possibility to other interested companies to try to procure additional quantities of vaccines for the citizens of FBiH,” Novalić explained.
Speaking about the constant calls for lockdown, he said that the FBiH Government has so far had a high degree of understanding for the profession and its proposals, but was also driven by the negative economic consequences of restricting economic activities, which was the result of the first lockdown.
"We must know that lockdown causes consequences for the mental health of our citizens. Currently, the state of the accident has not been declared in any state. Also, the Constitution of BiH guarantees freedom of movement, so that the measures of rigid detention would conflict with the provisions of the Constitution of BiH," said Novalić.
(FENA) A. B.
