Germany delivered a large COVID-19 test kit donation to further strengthen the pandemic response in Kosovo. The shipment of 150.000 Siemens CLINITEST© Rapid COVID-19 Antigen tests is worth over 600.000 EUR. It will support the Kosovar health care system in the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
On this occasion, Ambassador Jörn Rohde stated: “We are still in the fight against the pandemic together and our solidarity remains a key factor in this endeavor. I am pleased that our donation will further strengthen the capacities of Kosovar health care institutions in the fight against the pandemic. Detecting COVID-19 infections and preventing further spread of the virus remains key. The virus is still very much present in our societies and remains a threat. Despite a decrease in detected daily infections in Kosovo and elsewhere, we have to still follow hygiene guidelines in order to protect those most vulnerable. Germany remains at Kosovo’s side and continues to support the government’s COVID-19 response.”
Minister of Health Arben Vitia said on this occasion:
“We are honored to accept the supply of 150.000 COVID-19 test kits from our continuous partner, the German government, in order to help improve the pandemic response in Kosovo. The rates of daily infections with COVID19 have normalized, but it still remains a real challenge for us and the continent, so the exchange of experiences in managing the situation, as well as Germany’s support for Kosovo, is very important.
We thank the Ambassador for the valuable donation for the benefit of increasing the testing power for the diagnosis of COVID19 and also especially for creating opportunities for increasing rapid testing.
From here, we express our gratitude to the medical teams, support staff across the country for their hard work every day, in the service of life.
This assistance of Germany will help us all to move forward safely, and along with testing and tracking cases with COVID19, vaccination rates will continue, and our target for vaccination of 60% of citizens by 2021 remains a key focus.”
To date Germany has bilaterally assisted Kosovo with large donations of medical, protective, testing and hygiene equipment worth 4.72 million Euro, a large expert mission of the Robert-Koch Institut, a major contribution of more than 5 Mio EUR to Kosovo’s economic recovery as well as donations to the most vulnerable members of society.
Germany is also part of the EU efforts to assist Kosovo in overcoming the pandemic with more than 170 million EUR allocated to support Kosovo. In addition, Germany is the biggest bilateral contributor to the vaccination campaign through the global COVAX vaccination alliance aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
