The Ministry of Health of Montenegro announced that on May 4, nearly 10,000 citizens received the coronavirus vaccine. Of them, 7,784 received the first dose and 1,482 received the second dose. Before the start of mass vaccination, about 6% of the population had received the first dose and 3% the second.
Thus, Montenegro set a European record for the number of doses administered in one day relative to its population. Before that, the record holder was Germany, which vaccinated 1 million people in one day, i.e. 1.2% of the total population.
Recall that on May 1, 200,000 doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine arrived in the country, and on May 4 mass vaccination began. Previously, citizens were vaccinatedwith the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In addition, on May 4, the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine arrived in Montenegro together with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi. Vaccination of priority groups with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will begin on April 6, the Montenegrin Ministry of Health reports.
The Ministry of Health reminded that the first contingent of 2,340 doses out of a total of 42,000 arrived in Montenegro. The ministry emphasized that the first batch is intended for priority groups, including healthcare workers and people with conditions considered clinically extremely vulnerable.
Once all vulnerable and priority groups have received the vaccine, the remaining doses will also be used for mass vaccination.