Bosnia’s Serb-majority region expects that it will acquire coronavirus vaccines within the first three months of 2021, the Health Minister of the Republika Srpska (RS) entity, Alen Seranic, said on Saturday, adding that the entity needs about 400,000 doses of the vaccine at the moment.

“Republika Srpska is working on getting the vaccine as soon as possible so the population gets this kind of protection,” he said.

He said that the RS is negotiating with both “the East and the West” regarding the vaccines and that he does not expect the vaccine to be readily available to the masses within 2020, adding that the challenge is to produce large quantities of it within a short timeframe.

He also said that the World Health Organisation recommended that a minimum of 20 percent of the population should be vaccinated.

“The first round of vaccination will include those people who are most endangered and suffering from chronic diseases, as well as health workers with the goal of maintaining the health system, but also other persons who perform certain jobs in the public sphere,” he explained.

Seranic told ATV that the RS Public Health Institute has already developed a plan for coronavirus vaccinations.