Health Ministry: Flu vaccination campaign is gaining momentum, with enough vaccines for everyone registered

Since the vaccination campaign began on October 14, 66,821 people have registered, an average of 4,455 applications per day. People over 65 make up the largest group, followed by citizens with chronic illnesses.

According to the Ministry of Health, the most applications have been submitted in Skopje, with 19,767, followed by Bitola with 4,845, Prilep with 3,844, Strumica with 3,585 and Tetovo with 3,581.

So far, 6,710 appointments have been scheduled, and 3,266 vaccinations have been administered. Approximately 1,000 people a day were vaccinated over the past three working days. Of the past appointments, 86.7 percent were kept, while 503 people, or 13.3 percent, did not show up.

The ministry is asking citizens who cannot attend their appointments to cancel them so the slots can be given to someone else who has registered for vaccination. Scheduling appointments for a new group of citizens begins today, and the daily number of vaccinations is expected to rise to around 1,700.

A contract was signed today with manufacturer Sanofi to supply an additional 26,000 vaccines, which are expected to arrive by November 15. With this order, the number of vaccines secured so far will reach 56,000. Another 30,000 vaccines are also expected by the end of November. The total will reach 86,000 doses, the highest number to date and around 20,000 more than the number of people currently registered for vaccination, the Ministry of Health said.

Health Minister Sasho Klekovski said the flu is most prevalent in January and February. He stressed that vaccination through the first week of January provides timely protection, while the fact that Slovenia and Croatia will begin vaccinating in November shows it is not too late.

Klekovski urged citizens to be patient, saying there are enough vaccines for everyone who has registered and each person will receive an appointment notification. Starting this week, teams from health centers are administering vaccinations at nursing homes; dialysis centers will also begin offering vaccinations next week, the minister said.