Ana Brnabić: 'It's realistic to expect one million vaccines to arrive in January

'We need to know where to distribute the vaccine and the number of doses we need, which is part of the perfectly ordinary planning process. We should do it as well and as soon as possible.' 'There's disagreement in the Task Force on occasion, and that is natural.' 'A Task Force meeting is scheduled for early next week, and then we will decide on the measures for the New Year's.' 'I am immensely grateful to President Vučić for holding the dialogue on Kosovo and being the one most involved in it.'

"Serbia has become a very different country, and I couldn't be more proud of that. I think we have demonstrated how brave we are and how hard we work," Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said during her appearance on Kurir TV's Usijanje (Red Hot). "I don't just mean the Government and the President of Serbia as a team, but all of us together. I mean health workers, our economy – which has shown an incredible resilience – and the citizens. It's a fact that we are ending this year as a country with the best economic result in all of Europe; as a country that started the vaccination three days before EU states; as a country that managed to build two completely new hospitals in four months; as a country that under these circumstances succeeded not only in maintaining investor interest, but also in laying the foundation for a new investment of a Japanese investor during the most severe wave of the pandemic. Those are the things that point to a very different country. There's no doubt that difficult times reveal best who can work and who is stronger," she added.

You have taken the coronavirus jab. We have received 4,870 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but we expected 10,000. Why?

"There had been come changes, so we received a newly-announced delivery plan from Pfizer/BioNTech. We expect considerably larger quantities of the vaccine to arrive in January. We hope to receive the first shipment as early as 4 January. We will move forward with the vaccination, as we have enough vaccines. We owe a debt of gratitude to our partners from Pfizer for taking a small country like Serbia very seriously and for always being open to negotiations. We were among the first to sign a contract with Pfizer. In December they reduced the first shipment because of a reduction in their overall production, resulting in reduced shipments for everyone. This will be made up for in January, so there is no problem with vaccination."

Is that overly optimistic? Because that is 50 percent less than the number that was announced.

"I don't think that it's too optimistic, because we have excellent communication with them and can rely on them. Pfizer is one of the biggest and most reputable pharmaceutical companies in the world. President Aleksandar Vučić, myself, and Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar are in constant touch with all the other manufacturers. In early January we also expect certain quantities of the vaccine to arrive from the Chinese and Russian partners. It's in this sense that we won't be having problems continuing with the vaccination." Does this mean that one million vaccines, announced for January, is a realistic number?

"Absolutely." How did it come to pass that you were the first government official to be vaccinated?

"President Vučić and myself had been talking about this for a couple of months. We agreed that we should be the first or among the first to take the vaccine in order to send a signal and to set an example for the citizens, to show that the vaccine is safe and that we trust both it and our institutions – first and foremost the Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, which checks all vaccines. As we expect to receive vaccines from different manufacturers, we agreed back then to take different ones. And that's how I turned out to be the one receiving the first vaccine. I felt it was my duty, not only as Prime Minister, but also as head of the Task Force, to set an example for all citizens. President Vučić is the next in line. The plan is for him to take the vaccine made by the manufacturer which comes to Serbia next."

The plan is to vaccinate care home residents now, followed by health workers?

"That's right. It's going really well. I'm in constant touch with Minister Darija Kisić Tepavčević, who travelled around Serbia on Thursday and Friday, visiting care homes. Things are going well. Some countries started the vaccination with care homes, others with health workers. For example, the US has started the vaccination with health workers and the UK with care homes. These groups have equal priority, and the elderly are at the greatest risk, being the most vulnerable population group. This is why we have decided to start with care homes. But we will start vaccinating health workers very soon as well. We will then proceed to vaccinate all groups, following the priorities: the military, the police, and then probably teachers. We have a working group with expert professionals preparing the immunization plan, and we follow their suggestions."

There are about 100,000 people employed in the health system. If we get 16,000 vaccines in January, that won't be enough for them to be vaccinated. Is this factually correct and would it be true to say to people that everyone will be vaccinated by May or June at the earliest?

"Not really, no. That's not how it's going to be. Firstly, as I have already said, we expect to receive from Pfizer in January greater quantities of vaccines than was planned initially – the additional 16,000. We're counting on that. Moreover, we expect to receive the Russian Sputnik V and the Chinese jab in January, in large quantities. We'll give our health workers an opportunity to choose which vaccine they wish to take. I expect that most health workers will be vaccinated in January. Minister Lončar spoke along the same lines, and that is how it's going to be. We have a priority group of those working in the Covid system, in the red zone. They will be the first to get the jab."

When will we all be vaccinated? Will all of us be able to get the vaccine if we consent to it?

"I expect in the first half of 2021. In the coming days we will be opening contact centres and telephone lines, and providing email contact forms, for people to register if they are interested, in order for us to know sooner rather than later the number of people who wish to take the vaccine. They can get in touch with the contact centre, leave their contact details, and state that they wish to be vaccinated, in order for us to have a list of those who wish to be vaccinated. That will probably take place in the first week of January." We have a powerful anti-vaccine lobby in Serbia. How will this be interpreted? Let me ask you here – what do you need this data for?

"We need the data to know how many people wish to be vaccinated."

Will ID numbers have to be provided?

"No. We must adhere to the Law on Personal Data Protection. The mechanism here is the same as with seasonal flu vaccination. You register at your health centre. This will be even easier, that's why we're opening a contact centre. We need to know where to distribute the vaccine and the number of doses we need, which is part of the perfectly ordinary planning process. We should do it as well and as soon as possible, so that we could complete the vaccination in the shortest time available. I'm very proud of the fact that we have shown during the entire year how well and bravely we fight. We were one of the countries which managed to obtain additional ventilators in the most difficult times, thanks above all to President Vučić's activities. But, we are also the first country in Europe, if we exclude the United Kingdom – if you include it, then we're the second country in Europe – to get the vaccine. And the third country to start the vaccination. Following the United Kingdom and Switzerland, three days before vaccination started in the EU states. I think that it is a very different country, a country that sets a standard for responsibility. Many didn't believe it, at home as well as abroad. In the past two days, we have had news from media outlets around the world that Switzerland and Serbia are starting the vaccination a few days before the EU."

What is the communication between the experts and the government representatives like in the Task Force?

"It's excellent. Now we have Task Force meetings twice a week. The next meeting is scheduled for early next week, and then we will decide on the measures for the New Year's. There's disagreement on occasion, and that is natural and good, because only when there's disagreement can you make the best decisions. These decisions must be based on a compromise. The medical wing of the Task Force is primarily concerned with protecting the health system and the health of our citizens. Myself, as a government representative, and the economy wing need to take into account other things as well – how these measures impact on the economy. This is an incredibly expensive fight, taking away over one million euros daily. Testing, salaries, support for the economy, the citizens, then medications, pensions, etc. Serious efforts are put in to reconcile these two things. The medical wing of the Task Force was against relaxing the measures, so we found a good compromise – to relax the measures to a point, as the number of new infections keeps going down and the economy still functions. You need to consider the people who need to work and bring food to their families. The atmosphere in the Task Force is great, and we will continue our work in 2021."

Why have you been delaying the decision on what measures to take for the New Year's?

"We try to take all measures in a timely fashion, as it's a very fine line between how to protect the citizens' health and how much space you provide for the economy to keep going. You must strike a balance, ensure the economy functions without overwhelming the health system to a point when hospitals cannot treat people any longer. We don't just monitor the situation every day – we monitor the reports from the hospitals and laboratories every two hours, and we aim to formulate measures based on that. Lastly, consider the results: Serbia will have the best economic results and one of the lowest mortality rates. As regards delaying the decision on the measures for the New Year's, our people are exceptionally resourceful, skilful, and creative and, if we had put the measures in place 14 days ago, some would have 14 days to figure out how to bypass them, which would be a huge setback for our health system. So, there is also an element of surprise there as well." This year has seen the reopening of the dialogue about Kosovo, after 20 months. And it seems now that we're not making any progress. The dialogue isn't moving forward, Hoti's government has been declared unconstitutional, with elections to follow, and the campaign in Serbia starting. Will the dialogue be put on ice again?

"To be sure, but that doesn't depend on us. We have always been ready and, to speak figuratively, we were at the table, waiting. The only time we set a red line was with the 100-percent tariffs. Although this is already a former U.S. administration, I am very grateful to Donald Trump's special envoy, Richard Grenell, because it was his energy that resulted in the revocation of these tariffs, as well as to our EU partners, for being prepared to appoint Miroslav Lajčák as their envoy. The establishment of the Association/Community of Serb Majority Municipalities in Kosovo is still a priority, and you cannot continue the dialogue with the other party and reach a new agreement without implementing the agreement that is already signed. I am immensely grateful to President Vučić for holding the dialogue on Kosovo and for being the one most involved in it. By doing that, he has taken a huge burden off the Government's shoulders, providing room for us to tackle daily issues relating to the quality of life of our citizens."

Does that indicate that you are a good team?

"He is involved in politically difficult, unpopular issues, and I thank him for it. That's precisely what makes Serbia strong – working as a team, being a proper team. It's the stability that few other countries can boast. You have seen the extent to which the economy and the people suffer under such extraordinary circumstances as these when there is open fighting, conflicts, and clashes between the prime minister and the head of state. Serbia doesn't have that and, what's more, we actually do consult and push for the same things. The President is very supportive here, as he is able to see the big picture from where he stands, and point out to myself as Prime Minister and my entire Cabinet the things that we should pay attention to, which could be dealt with faster or differently. Serbia didn't have that for a long time, and that's where the advantage is."

On the EU integration process

'Some criticisms from the EU don't hold up.'

Serbia wishes to join the EU, and six years ago we entered into accession talks. For the first time now, we haven't opened any chapters, and we've closed a total of two in six years. The EU doesn't count the open chapters, but those that have been closed. This year we haven't started a single one.

"Yes. We haven't opened a single chapter in 2020. I'm open for criticism there. There are things that I could have done as Prime Minister, things I could have insisted on more, so the bulk of the recommendations and comments in the progress report is valid. But some certainly don't hold up." Are we now further away from the projection that we would be joining the EU in 2025, made by the former President of the EU Commission?

"Let me be frank with you on this. I don't think we are, because the new methodology, proposed by the President of France Emmanuel Macron, and which we said we accepted, provides far different conditions for the speed of European integrations – it's no longer about opening chapters, but opening clusters. The EU integration process can be accelerated considerably there."

On the new Cabinet

'The cabinet ministers are fantastic.'

Are you happy with the new Cabinet?

"Very happy. I really must say that I am very happy with the Cabinet. I think it has been made much stronger. We have fantastic Cabinet ministers – quick, efficient, determined, and brave. This is very important when you're in this sort of situation, where decisions must be made quickly. They are very committed to their work, and I think we will do important things in 2021 and early 2022. Everyone said to me, 'The keynote address was ambitious, but realistic.' I'm very happy, we're doing a good job as a team and the atmosphere in Cabinet meetings is great. People are giving it their best, and that's the most important thing."

(Kurir.rs)