Inoculation for economic recovery

Palushi owns the company “Frutex” in Suhareka, which deals with the production of nonalcohol and energetic beverages, products that are present in the markets of the region and Europe.

But, confirmation of the European Union Council for removing Kosovo from the list of safe countries for EU travel due to pandemic, prompted Palushi to cancel planned visits.

In addition to visits, he shows he is invited to attend the international food and drink fair “ANUGA”, organised in Kiln, Germany.

“We have confirmed participation in this fair, and this will certainly present a problem except that we will not be able to visit our partners and if an annulment occurs at this fair will miss the opportunity to find new markets. Despite the fair, we need free movement from one state to another to secure new markets”, Palushi says.

The huge increase in the number of infected and the death toll toll as a consequence of COVID-19, has caused the European Union on August 30th to change the list of safe countries, removing Kosovo from this list.

Currently, only Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the list of safe countries from Balkan countries.

The states are granted safe country status if they register a maximum of 75 positive cases of coronary per 100,000 residents in the last 14 days. The European Union updates every two weeks the list of countries that can be considered safe, depending on their epidemiological situation.

The chairman of the Afarism Oda, Skender Krasniqi, says competent authorities should focus more on monitoring the implementation of anti-coronvirus measures in order to reduce the number of infected. But, he says it also needs to increase the capacities of the health staff for vaccine, as he says these are the only opportunities for economic recovery.

Despite the Kosovo Government's decision, which vaccination of citizens against COVID-19 to take place even on weekends, Krasniqi says the current rate of vaccination is not the right to give hope to the economy that can affect growth because, according to him, with actual figures of infected people, Kosovo for a period will not be able to obtain the status of safe countries from the EU.

This situation, according to Krasniqi, will affect reducing the export of local products, and at the same time there will be a decline in the interest of foreign investors to visit Kosovo.

The vaccine rate must increase. This is the weapon of economic recovery. This greatly harms local businesses and increases uncertainty for foreign investors”, he says.

Shaqir Palushi stresses that difficulties in free movement, as a result of recent measures, help export his company's products.

The lack of contact with partners from European Union countries, whether for myself as owner or other export personnel, affects the export failure according to the company's” planning, he says.

By September 12th, according to Health Ministry data, over 357 thousand people have been vaccinated with two doses of vaccine, while more than 676 thousand have received a dose.

A person is considered completely immune, 14 days after taking the second dose of the vaccine.

Kosovo health authorities are constantly calling on citizens to be vaccinated against COVID-19, adding that there are enough vaccines. Similarly, the Health Ministry has announced that it has launched negotiations on securing another million vaccines for next year.

Even the chairman of the Association of Infectologists of Kosovo, Hamdi Ramadani, says the vaccine is the main weapon for normalising the health and economic situation in the country.

He says that more recently citizens' interest in the vaccine has increased, and in addition to the vaccine centres, authorities have also created inoculation mobile teams.

With the arrival of vaccines (donation) from the United States, mobile teams should be added to homes, neighborhoods where citizens will be vaccinated because there is no other means to improve the situation. Thus, health authorities must give as much as they can quickly increase the percentage of the vaccinated population. Thus the cases of infected persons are reduced, and the health of citizens and the overall economy will be safer”, Ramadan notes.

Even the International Monetary Fund (FMN) has predicted that the inoculation of Kosovo's citizens could lead to economic growth within 2021.

According to the chief of this IMF team that made the report for Kosovo in June, Gabriel Di Bella, growth could occur if the vaccine programme is successful.

Under the Law for Prevention and Combating the COVID-19, on the territory of Kosovo, it is said that the Government of Kosovo is obliged to provide sufficient vaccines against the new coronavirus for all citizens.

Expenses for Anti-Vy vaccine COVID-19, under this law, covers the Government of Kosovo from its budget, donors or through loans it receives. /rel