Journalists demand that they be priorities in the vaccine

Unlike Kosovo, some countries in the region have already started to mobise media employees.

Kosovo Journalists' Association Chairman Gentiana Begolli told Radio Free Europe that they are in contact with relevant authorities and, as she said, will soon apply for journalists to be placed on the priority list for the vaccine.

And since this week, and maybe from today, we're going to direct the request to the Ministry of Health so that our colleagues can be on the priority list, given that they've been on the front line in the fight of this pandemic. And we'll see if we have the understanding that even our colleagues are on the priority list”, Begolli said.

Begolli said it has also been the recommendation of the International Federation of Journalists that journalists be vaccinated first in view of the risk they face. But, so far, Begolli adds, journalists themselves have not had any requests to be vaccinated against the Coronervirus.

“Well, that's not the reason we don't make such a request to the relevant institutions, because we know exactly what our colleagues do and how much of a risk they are on the ground by this pandemic”, she said.

On the other hand, Health Minister Arben Vitita told Radio Free Europe that so far there has been no change in the vaccine plan, but according to him, journalists should be among the first to be vaccinated.

We have not made any interference in the actual vaccine plan. At the first moment, I take it upon myself to speak to all the actors that you as a endangered category, normally too dangerous to be in this plan. However, at the moment I can't tell you anything without the next vaccine container coming in and not talking to the vaccine committee that made the plan”, Minister Vitita said.

Bujar Vitija, journalist in newspaper “Shneta”, which largely conducts the health sector, considers that in the group of most people endangered by infection, journalists should also be involved because of their work in reporting on pandemics.

“Gasers have been at the front all the time and have thus enabled the institutions and government to manage the pandemic more easily, bringing information to citizens, perceiving them about the risk of infection and the ways in which it should be protected by coronary. I think the Health Ministry would have to consider the work of journalists”, the Year points out.

Vitija says AGK should undertake initiatives so that journalists' vaccines can be vaccinated as soon as possible.

The Kosovo Journalists' Association should have an initiative, an official request for the Ministry of Health, to enable Kosovo journalists to have access to vaccination”, Vitija added.

The region's states, however, are vaccinating journalists.

Albania has begun vaccinating field journalists on April 2nd, and a day later has started vaccinating police workers. In this country, vaccine against COVID-19 has started on January 11th.