Skopje, 7 September 2022 (MIA) — EU Ambassador David Geer on Wednesday officially handed over to Health Minister Bekim Sali four refrigerated vehicles for transporting vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and 35 ultra cold temperature freezers for vaccine storage. According to Minister Sali, the donated equipment is worth Mden 16,000,000 and is funded by the EU4HEALTH program. To safely store Covid-19 vaccines, which require storage at temperatures as low as 80 degrees Celsius, the Ministry of Health in 2022 will receive from the EU one more refrigerated vehicle, 15 ultra cold temperature freezers, and eight vaccine transport coolers, Sali said. The EU4HEALTH program will also provide 50 laptops and over 200 hospital folding screens on casters, he added. EU Ambassador Geer recalled that the EU had already donated hundreds of thousands of vaccines to North Macedonia, and now, he said, the country was receiving the required equipment for their storage and transport. He also said the EU had provided more than EUR 241,000,000 in emergency medical aid amid the Covid-19 pandemic, including 25 mechanical ventilators, 35 sets of medical equipment and over two million personal protection kits. Speaking to the press, both Geer and Sali urged citizens to protect themselves against the virus by staying up to date with their vaccines and boosters. The health minister said walk-in vaccinations were available at the Jane Sandanski and Chair vaccination sites between 8 am and 2 pm and at the Bukuresht vaccination site from 2 pm to 7 pm. In response to a reporter’s question, Sali said only around 1,000 people a day were getting their booster shots. He said 350,000 vaccine doses were available at the moment, pointing out that they would expire at the end of the year. “I also need to mention,” Sali said, “that the 350,000 vaccines that we have were also donated to us by friendly countries – 250,000 were donated by Italy and 100,000 were a donation from Croatia.” mr/