(ANSA-XINHUA) - BELGRADE, SEP 10 - Construction of the first
Chinese COVID-19 vaccine production facility in Europe started
in Serbia on Thursday. The factory is planned to produce 30
million vaccine doses annually starting in April 2022, and is
expected to supply Serbia and several countries in the region
and Europe with the Chinese-developed Sinopharm vaccines. The
foundation stone for the new factory was laid by Serbian
President Aleksandar Vucic in the presence of Chinese Ambassador
Chen Bo, according to a press release from the president's
office. Vucic said that he was proud that Serbia, together with
partners from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), was
"trying and seems to be able to solve some global problems."
"This is not a partnership of interest but a proof of
friendship," Vucic said. Back in January this year, Serbia
started a mass vaccination campaign with the Sinopharm jab,
which has been most widely used among Serbian citizens along
with products from other manufacturers. In June, Serbia started
to produce Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine at the Institute
of Virology, Vaccines and Sera "Torlak" in Belgrade. Chinese
vaccines, including Sinopharm and Sinovac, have been approved by
the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use. Chinese
President Xi Jinping said on Thursday while addressing the 13th
BRICS summit via video link that China will strive to provide a
total of 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the world by
the end of this year, noting that China, to date, has provided
more than 1 billion doses of finished and bulk vaccines to over
100 countries and international organizations. Since the
pandemic broke out, China has sent medical aid and batches of
vaccines to Serbia and helped build two "Fire Eye" laboratories
for PCR testing. Chinese doctors spent months helping set up
prevention measures in the country. (ANSA-XINHUA).
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