Bosnia and Herzegovina is being “deceived” by the COVAX vaccine procurement mechanism and the country should work on finding other ways to procure the vaccines, Bosnia’s tripartite Presidency Chairman, Milorad Dodik, said on Thursday.

Dodik made the statement after meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. The two spoke about joint projects between Serbia and Bosnia’s semi-autonomous Republika Srpska (RS) entity and emphasised the need to find ways to provide support in vaccinating the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as provide the best medical care to all citizens, according to a statement by from Vucic’s office.

“Serbia is very successful in that, and we are literally being deceived with the story about the joint procurement of vaccines through COVAX,” Dodik said, adding that he also came across rumours that “the European Union will shut down deliveries of vaccines until it satisfies its own needs.”

Dodik said that efforts are ongoing to procure Russian vaccines and that 100,000 doses are expected to arrive in Bosnia’s semi-autonomous Republika Srpska (RS) entity in February.

“I expect the procurement of Chinese vaccines, and we hope that the COVAX system will become operational by then,” said Dodik.