The manifest failure of the European Commission to carry out the responsibility it grabbed for the COVID-19 vaccine issue is pushing countries to take things into their own hands and look to other sources, particularly Russia and China.
Bosnia has joined the growing list of countries accepting the Sputnik V vaccine as the first shipment arrived at Sarajevo Airport on Feb. 1, according to a report in Euractiv. The first shipment will be enough to vaccinate 1,000 people. While Bosnia is not an EU member, it is a candidate for membership. Vaccines for Bosnia’s 200,000 Republika Srpska citizens will be procured by mid-March which will include 100,000 vaccines from Russia.
In January, Hungary, an EU member, gave provisional approval of Sputnik V as well as the COVID-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinopharm. While not considered illegal by EU rules, the move was considered “improper.” Nonetheless, Hungarians would rather be improper than dead. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said last week that his government planned to sign a deal with the Chinese firm.
