Over 160 thousand doses of seasonal flu vaccine, QKMFs pending

Close to 160 thousand doses of the vaccine against seasonal flu have been provided in Kosovo. Application of this vaccine is expected to take place this month. And at the Main Centre of Family Medicine, they say they have made all preparations for giving this vaccine, but are currently awaiting the first doses of the seasonal flu vaccine.

Health Minister Armend Zemaj has said that for this winter season, they are planning to multiply doses of the anti flu vaccine.

“One piece has been secured somewhere is 165, which will now be distributed to the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo. But in this year we pretend and we'll be able to get 500 grand vaccines, of course, even with the support of the Government of Kosovo, we have to secure the budgetary costs, and it's becoming the distribution framework of all municipalities, even the QKMFs have received reports and on the basis of this dynamic joint with the IKSHPK, you know that even the cooling chain has a limited capacity to support these vaccines. But in a correct and serious planning of this issue, we pretend to have a considerable number of vaccinated ones that will reach half a million Kosovo citizens, he said.

Sami Uka, chief chief of the Centre for Family Medicine in Pristina, told KosovaPress that they have made all necessary preparations in this direction.

He said the demands for taking this vaccine are large in the municipality of Pristina, so the more doses are better, as citizens are forced to buy themselves.

We're expecting within the next one or two weeks to be supplied with the first doses of seasonal flu vaccines we've made all preparations for accepting them and to distributive them according to the need for more fragial or weaker age, which are of priority to vaccinate that are over 65, chronically ill and pregnant. We're hoping we have time to manage all the needy... Pristina has managed about 11,000 doses last year and so this year we are planning a minimum to have 11 to 12 thousand doses to manage, but the amount required is much greater. So, any amount on this amount is welcome for our patients who, in other circumstances, had to buy for themselves after crossing this limit on 12 thousand doses”, Uka stressed.

Uka for Kosovo Press says seeing the epidemiological situation with COVID-19 in the country, the distribution of vaccines is thought to take place in two ways.

The head of the QKMF in Pristina sees the vaccination of all medical staff in the Family Medicine Centres extremely necessary.

And the COVIED that is still flowing among us, even though at a little lower intensity, is necessary to intervene as soon as possible and not be left like last year that has occurred until December, we have received the vaccine doses. So we're hoping that as soon as we start giving the first doses of the seasonal flu vaccine. We've made all the preparations available to us two options to make the injection management in all centers or even at certain centers, or just at our center here at the Center of Family Medicine like it's in the past few years. But with a reshuffle of work in order to avoid close contact with other patients, but also to ensure their new management at the earliest of”, the KKMF chief chief chief said in Pristina.

And according to biologist Valbon Krasniqi at this time when we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to vaccinate against seasonal flu at the right time is even greater, since both viruses are stirring up respiratory routes.

“This year because these two viruses are divided with COVIID need to become even more important to vaccinate against seasonal flu and we expect that until an optimial time... these two viruses are divided into respiratory routes, yet the vaccine against seasonal flu is not meant for protection against the COVID 19 pandemic, so the optimial time is the earliest mentioned, and we expect that along with regular planning to begin this vaccine with the time of<1> said Krasniqi.

According to the National Institute of Public Health in Kosovo, there were 160,000 recorded cases of seasonal flu during 2019.