Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina asked the competent authorities in the country to include the media workers into the priority group for vaccination against Covid-19, the association said on Monday.

The demand was addressed to Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Zoran Tegeltija, Civil Affairs Minister Ankica Gudeljevic, as well as prime ministers of Bosnia's two semi-autonomous regions, Federation's (FBiH) Fadil Novalic and Republika Srpska's (RS) Radovan Viskovic.

Elaborating the request, the association pointed out that the reporters have been among the first in the line since the pandemic outbreak, reporting on the fight against Covid-19 and are one of those who did not terminate their work throughout the pandemic. By doing so, the journalists gave their contribution to informing the public on the coronavirus pandemic and all social consequences it triggered, the association said.

“Journalism is a profession that involves a number of personal contacts and, regardless of personal protection measures, the possibility of contracting the virus is huge, which proves the large number of those infected. According to information that the Association of Journalists of BiH has, a large number of them got Covid-19 and unfortunately, there were death cases among the journalists. That's why we urge you to include the journalists as a priority category for the vaccination against Covid-19 and protect their health and lives, and enable them to do their job of informing the public towards the final victory against this disease,” concludes the statement.