Vaccine skepticism hurts East European anti-virus efforts

Vaccines from the West, Russia or China? Or none in any way? That dilemma faces countries in southeastern Europe, where coronavirus vaccination campaigns are off to a slow beginning -- fueled by heated political debates and conspiracy theories.

In countries such as the Czech Republic, Serbia, Bosnia, Romania and Bulgaria, vaccine skeptics have included former presidents and even some doctors. Serbian tennis winner Novak Djokovic was among those who said he did not need to be forced to get inoculated.

False beliefs that the coronavirus is a hoax or vaccines would inject microchips to people have spread in the states which were previously under harsh Communist rule. Individuals who routinely underwent mass inoculations are deeply split over whether to get the vaccines in any way.

"There's a direct connection between support for conspiracy theories and disbelief regarding Offense," a current Balkan study warned. "A majority across the region doesn't intend to take the vaccine, a ratio substantially lower than elsewhere in Europe, in which a majority favors taking the vaccine."

Only about 200,000 people applied for the vaccine from Serbia, a nation of 7 million, in the days after authorities opened the process. By contrast, 1 million Serbians signed up for 100 euros ($120) on the very first day the government provided the pandemic aid.

Nevertheless they themselves have been split over whether to find the Western-made Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine or Russia's Sputnik V, more divisions in a nation that's formally seeking European Union membership but at which many favor closer ties with Moscow.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Saturday greeted a shipment of 1 million doses of this Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, saying he will receive a shot to show that it is safe.

"Serbs prefer the Russian embryo," read a recent headline of this Informer, a pro-government tabloid, as officials announced that 38% of people who have applied to take the shots favor the Russian vaccine, whereas 31% want the Pfizer-BioNTech variation -- a rough division among pro-Russians and pro-Westerners at Serbia.

In neighboring Bosnia, a war-torn state that remains ethnically divided among Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats, politics too are a factor, as the Serb-run half appeared set to opt for the Russian vaccine, while the Bosniak-Croat part likely will turn to the Western ones.

Sasa Milovanovic, a 57-year-old realtor in Belgrade, sees all pathogens as part of the"global manipulation" of the pandemic.

"People are locked up, they don't have any lives no more and reside in a state of hysteria and fear," he said.

Djokovic has stated he was against being forced to have a coronavirus vaccine in order to travel and compete but was keeping his mind open. The top-ranked tennis player and his wife tested positive in June after a series of exhibition matches with no societal distancing that he arranged at the Balkans. They and their base have donated 1 million euros ($1.1 million) to buy ventilators and other medical equipment for hospitals in Serbia.

Serbian Health Ministry official Mirsad Djerlek has described the vaccine response as"satisfactory," but cautioned about the state-run RTS broadcaster that"individuals in rural areas generally believe in conspiracy theories, and that is the reason we should speak to them and clarify the vaccine is the only way out of this situation."

A study by the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group, printed before the regional vaccination effort commenced in December, concluded that virus conspiracy theories are believed by nearly 80% of citizens of the Western Balkan countries trying to join the EU. About half of them are going to refuse to get vaccinated, it stated.

Baseless theories allege that the virus isn't real or that it is a bioweapon created by the U.S. or its adversaries. Another popular falsehood holds that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is using COVID-19 vaccines to implant microchips in the world's seven billion individuals.

A low level of information about the virus and germs, distrust in governments and repeated assertions by police that their countries are besieged by foreigners help explain the high prevalence of such beliefs, based on the Balkans think tank.

Similar trends are seen even in some eastern European Union nations.

In Bulgaria, widespread conspiracy theories hampered past efforts to take care of a measles outbreak. Surveys there indicated distrust of vaccines remains high as coronavirus instances keep climbing. A recent Gallup International survey found that 30 percent of respondents wish to get vaccinated, 46% will refuse and 24 percent are undecided.

Bulgarian physicians have attempted to alter attitudes. Dr. Stefan Konstantinov, a former health ministry, found that individuals should be told neighboring Greece would close resorts to tourists that don't get vaccinated, because"this will guarantee that some 70 percent of the population would rush to get a jab."

From the Czech Republic, where polls show some 40% refuse vaccination, protesters in a big rally against authorities virus restrictions in Prague required that vaccinations never be required. Former President Vaclav Klaus, a fierce critic of the government's pandemic response, told the crowd that vaccines aren't a solution.

"They say that everything will be solved by a miracle medicine," stated the 79-year-old Klaus, who insists that people must get exposed to the virus to obtain immunity, which experts reject. "We have to state loud and clear that there's no anything. ... I'm not going to get vaccinated."

Populist government in Hungary have taken a tough line against virus corruption, but rejection of vaccines is still projected at about 30%. Parliament passed emergency powers in March that allows police to prosecute anyone deemed to be"inhibiting the successful defense" against the virus, including"fearmongering" or spreading false information. At least two individuals who criticized the government's response to this pandemic on social websites were detained, but was officially charged.

Romanian Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu said he is relying on family doctors to"notify, schedule and monitor individuals following the vaccine" and that his ministry provides bonuses to medical workers dependent on the number of people they get onboard. Wondering if these incentives would fuel anti-vaccination propaganda, Voiculescu said:"I am interested further by the physicians' view about the matter than I'm concerning the anti-vaxxers."

Dr. Ivica Jeremic, that has worked with virus patients in Serbia since March and analyzed convinced himself in November, hopes vaccination programs will obtain speed once individuals conquer their fear of the unknown.

"People will recognize the vaccine is the only way to return to regular life," he said.