Skopje, 7 February 2022 (MIA) – The first shipment of 250,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from Italy has arrived Monday in North Macedonia. The COVID-19 vaccines are donated through COVAX facility and UNICEF, while the second batch is set to arrive on Wednesday. Health Minister Bekim Sali thanked the Italian government for the donation and told citizens that Health Ministry is making efforts continuously in providing enough vaccines. He urged the citizens to get vaccinated as it is the only way to protect themselves and noted that vaccines are safe, stored in Institute of Transfusion Medicine and transported safely. Sali also encouraged people to receive the first, second and third dose of vaccine, because as he said, the vaccination is the only way to protect against COVID-19 at the moment. Italian Ambassador to North Macedonia, Andrea Silvestri, said that this is the largest ever donation by a single country to North Macedonia adding that the second shipment of the Italian donation will arrive on Wednesday. He also urged the citizens to get vaccinated, reminding that Italy was the first country hardly hit by the COVID-19, and thanks to the vaccines, it managed in tackling the pandemic. Ambassador Silvestri said that this campaign is part of our efforts to help friendly countries to cope with the pandemic, but in this case it was about the special attention we have to North Macedonia, once again reiterating for continuation of vaccination campaign in the country. UNICEF official, Artur Ayvazov, joined the Italian Ambassador and the Health Minister in their appeals to the population to get vaccinated, saying the vaccines were safe.