Like other countries, in 2020 Serbia faced great challenges, primarily health, which it faced far better than other countries in Europe and the world.

Serbia is the first country in Europe, not counting the United Kingdom, to procure the "Pfizer / Biontek" vaccine, the first in the Western Balkans and the third in Europe to start a mass immunization. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabic, is the first Prime Minister in Europe to receive the vaccine on December 24, 2020. Serbia will have a total of one million doses of vaccines in January, and about two million during the first quarter of 2021. Serbia has reached an agreement with various vaccine manufacturers for 8 million doses.

The health system of the Republic of Serbia is fully prepared for this challenge. A system has been established to monitor each vaccine, as well as to record each person who is vaccinated. The reminder for receiving the second dose of the vaccine is received via SMS and e-mail, and the portal and call center for citizens' registration for vaccination started working as well.

Serbia was among the first in the world, in addition to Israel, UAE and China, to start a mass vaccination of the population.

Serbia is among the top three countries in the region in terms of the number of PCR tests performed and the country with the lowest coronavirus mortality rate.

Also, Serbia is one of the few countries that built and opened two Covid hospitals in record time (in Batajnica with a capacity of 930 places and Krusevac with a capacity of 500 places).

In Serbia, investments in health infrastructure were large, so since 2016, 80 health centers and dispensaries have been renovated, and work is underway on six large health centers. More than 200 million euros have been invested in the renovation, construction and equipping of hospitals and more than 300 million euros in the renovation of clinics and specialized hospitals.

Last year, the salaries of health workers have been increased by about 30%, and from January 1, 2021, they will receive an increase of 5%.

The government also organized the free return of a large number of citizens of the Republic of Serbia. Also, Serbia is one of the few countries that organized the return of foreigners who found themselves in Serbia during the pandemic.

More information on the successes of the Republic of Serbia in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic can be found at:

1. President of the Republic of Serbia https://www.predsednik.rs
2. Government of the Republic of Serbia https://www.srbija.gov.rs
3. Ministry of health https://www.zdravlje.gov.rs, https://covid19.rs
4. Serbian public health institute „Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut“ https://www.batut.org.rs, http://www.batut.org.rs/index.php?category_id=108