Norway donates almost 183,000 AstraZeneca corona vaccines to Kosovo

All 182,900 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) has in stock will be donated to Kosovo.

“Kosovo is among the countries in Europe that have so far received the fewest vaccine doses. I am glad that these vaccines are useful and that Norway can help Kosovo vaccinate its population faster,” Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie (H) noted in a press release.

Norway started using the AstraZeneca vaccine on February 7, before suspending its use on March 11 due to cases of severe blood clots. 

Shortly after, following a recommendation from the FHI, the Norwegian government decided to remove the AstraZeneca vaccine from the vaccination program.

A total of 138,300 people have been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Norway, according to the FHI.

EU agreement

Earlier in June, the Ministry of Health decided that all AstraZeneca doses already sent to the municipalities would be discarded – about 45,000 doses. The doses were discarded due to strict requirements for transport, temperature monitoring, and storage conditions.

However, the EU agreement with AstraZeneca allows donations of vaccines to other countries. The decision to donate the doses to Kosovo has been made in collaboration with the European Commission.

Norway, in cooperation with the EU, will take care of the practical implementation of transport to Kosovo. The government will shortly complete an agreement with Kosovo on the issue.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

Do you have a news tip for Norway Today? We want to hear it. Get in touch at [email protected]