Ljubljana - Slovenia has been promised to get some 5,000 doses of anti-coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, Health Minister Tomaž Gantar told MPs in questions time in parliament on Monday. This is the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which is expected to be green-lighted by the European Medicines Agency on 29 December.

However, Gantar is worried that given the strong anti-vaccination movement, Slovenia would in the long-run not achieve a 60% vaccination rate, which scientists deem necessary to guarantee herd immunity.

This is one of the reasons the country decided to buy the vaccine via the European Commission and the Medicines Agency, to raise trust in the safety of the vaccine, he told the MPs.

Once the entire first batch has arrived in the country, it is expected to suffice for 50,000-60,000 people. The country would earmark EUR 10.5 million for anti-Covid vaccination, which will be voluntary, this year.

In line with the national anti-coronavirus vaccination strategy, the first to be vaccinated will be healthcare staff and staff at care homes.