Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Aug 02, 2025

Bosnia and Serbia: Why are the neighbours worlds apart on vaccines?

Bosnia and Serbia: Why are the neighbours worlds apart on vaccines?

When it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, it's difficult to think of another part of Europe where the juxtaposition is more pronounced.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), struggling amid an upsurge in COVID-19 cases, has not bought a single vaccine dose.

But its neighbour Serbia, until the 1990s both part of the same country, has one of the best inoculation rates in Europe.

Belgrade has bought thousands of doses from Russia and China, helping it fully vaccinate more than 10% of its population.

But Bosnia, by contrast, is living on charity as a result of a disorganised government, Fahrudin Kulenovic, an epidemiologist, told Euronews.

"They haven't bought any single vaccine yet, and in Serbia, people get to pick their vaccines like cakes in the pastry shop – Chinese, Russian, German or American.

"Here, we use what we receive as a gift."

Bosnia currently has 52,000 doses, donated by Serbia and Russia. Turkey, meanwhile, has promised a further 30,000 shots.

Vaccinations have begun for the elderly in the Serb-populated part of the country, Republika Srpska, but in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, home to the Muslim-majority Bosniaks and Croats, they are still waiting for jabs. Healthcare workers in both parts of the country have been offered inoculations.

How Bosnia and Herzegovina is divided up and its proximity to Serbia


Worsening situation


Bosnia has reported 5,729 deaths since the start of the pandemic in a country of 3.3 million people.

Daily new COVID-18 infections have reached around 1,500 recently compared to a few hundred just weeks ago.

This sharp deterioration has caused pressure on hospital bed numbers and a shortage of oxygen supplies.

The University Clinical Centre Republic Srpska in Banja Luka has had to open another floor to cope with the hundreds of COVID patients it is treating.

"Everyone should be aware that the health sector has reached its limits," Slobodan Haider, head of the centre's intensive medicine clinic, told Euronews.

"We're opening the top, seventh floor for COVID-19 patients. That will get us to our limit capacity. In seven days, it may happen that you will not be able to obtain a hospital room here, we may get into the situation where people will have to stay in the hallways. About 50 people are on ventilators and oxygen consumption at the centre has increased tenfold."

Rashid Krupalija has been receiving treatment for COVID-19 at a health centre in Novo Sarajevo.

"Hundreds of people pass through this infirmary daily," said Krupalija. "Queues extend outside the health centre building.

"Every day I come here to receive therapy and on average I wait three to five hours.

"Staff at the centre work very hard and are visibly exhausted, they can't be blamed, but simply the number of patients exceeds what is humanly possible to deal with."

New restrictions


The deteriorating situation saw an evening curfew imposed in Sarajevo on Friday and all bars and restaurants closed down from Saturday for at least the next two weeks.

But to the east, just outside the canton of Sarajevo, in Republika Srpska, there are fewer restrictions.

"The apartment building where I live is right on the border of Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH," said Milica Jovovic, 25.

"It belongs to Republika Srpska, where no curfew has been imposed, but to get home I have to cross through the Sarajevo canton, which introduced a curfew from 9 pm to 5 am, with fines reaching up to €250 per violation.

"Here in Republika Srpska, cafes, clubs and restaurants are open until the evening hours. Republika Srpska introduced tougher restrictions this week, including a ban on live music and alcohol sales from 10 PM to 6 AM.

"I feel sorry for my neighbours who are locked down and who are looking at us, who have every freedom of movement, from the windows of their apartments."

Ivana Govedarica Mucibabic, who lives in Gacko, Republika Srpska, has also escaped the tighter restrictions in Sarajevo canton.

But, nevertheless, locals are getting fed up with the pandemic.

"Tougher restrictions have been imposed compared to a month earlier, masks are mandatory, but everything else is working normally," Ivana said.

"We are really powerless to do anything. But we are fed up with stories about restrictions, the pandemic and vaccines."

But Dr Kulenovic has little time for those complaining about restrictions.

"The nation that was under siege in the 1990s now complains about not being able to go to the pub for a few days. That's unbelievable.

"We have to let them know that this is not too much of a sacrifice, that we all have to protect ourselves so that we don't face mutations of the virus that cannot be eradicated, in which case we would have to vaccinate ourselves every six months or every year with vaccines that we don't have.

"As someone who has been practising preventive medicine for more than 50 years, I advocate stricter measures, because all our peoples in the Balkans, especially in BiH, do not have a tradition of democratic culture. We are used to being led. People must receive orders."

Dr Kulenovic said Bosnia's recent spike had not comes as a huge surprise.

"I expected something like this to happen because there is no luck or coincidence in science," he said. "At one point, our numbers were good, we relaxed too much and now, they say that a new wave has begun - but I say it's a new mutation, which is much more dangerous.

"We are now in a crisis with over 1,000 infected and about 40, 50 or 60 deceased every day, which is a lot relative to our total population.

"You cannot behave poorly and hope for the best, that will not do."

As we published this article, Republika Srpska just introduced new anti-COVID measures. They closed pubs, restaurants, non-food shops and shopping centres for a week. Also, the schools will switch to online for a week. Citizens staged a protest in Banja Luka against the measures.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
×