The Serbian government stated today that the third, booster dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 will start to be administered in Serbia as of tomorrow, 17 August.
The Serbian government stated today that the third, booster dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 will start to be administered in Serbia as of tomorrow, 17 August.
All vaccinated citizens will be eligible for the third, booster dose 180 days after receiving the second dose, and the call for vaccination with the third dose will be made through SMS or e-mails with a link to the e-Government portal, where they will obtain more detailed information.
On the e-Government portal, the citizens will see whether they belong to the population groups to whom the third dose is recommended. However, independent from whether they belong to the groups that are recommended to take the third dose, everyone can take the booster shot if they want, six months after receiving the second dose and after receiving a call from the e-Government.
Citizens should not apply on their own for the third dose before they get contacted by the e-Government.
All citizens are given a free choice to choose the brand of the booster vaccine, given that it is safe and possible to receive a third dose from the manufacturer different from the one with which they were vaccinated and revaccinated. Citizens will inform the doctor at the vaccination site during the medical check-up about their choice of the brand of the booster vaccine.
There are currently four brands of vaccines available in Serbia and there are sufficient amounts of all of them at all vaccination sites in the country – the Chinese vaccine (Sinopharm), Russian vaccine (Sputnik V) and the vaccines of manufacturers Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca.
The third, booster dose of the vaccine is especially recommended to the following population groups:
• persons with impaired immunity - immunodeficiency and conditions of immunosuppression, recipients of bone marrow and solid organ transplants, persons on haemodialysis and persons living with primary or secondary immunosuppressed patients,
• persons older than 70 years of age,
• persons older than 60 years of age who permanently reside in nursing homes and other institutions of social welfare,
• the employed at health care institutions and social welfare institutions,
• travellers in international traffic – citizens of Serbia who travel frequently abroad, whether for work or for private reasons.
Upon receiving the call from the e-Government, the citizens will be able to get vaccinated in all community health centres across Serbia, whereas in Belgrade, in addition to community health centres, the third dose will also be administered at the vaccination site at Hall 11 at the Belgrade fairgrounds, and the list of vaccination sites will be available on the e-Government portal.
The Serbian government is urging once more all citizens to protect their life and health, as well as the life and health of all people around them by getting vaccinated.
After over six months since the beginning of mass vaccination in Serbia, the vast majority of hospitalised patients are unvaccinated citizens.
We hope that the facts like these, as well as that all vaccinated citizens passed without major problems and side effects after the first and second dose of the vaccine, will encourage those who still haven't received a COVID-19 vaccine to do so.
Even today, long after the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic, vaccine is still the only way to defeat this infectious disease.