Serbia is better than many countries in building collective immunity to the coronavirus, Darija Kisic Tepavcevic, an epidemiologist and Minister of Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, said on Tuesday, but warned the epidemic situation still demanded caution.

„There are reasons for optimism, but we’re still not strong enough as the population to prevent the spreading of the disease because every fifth tested person is positive for the virus. That why we still have to do everything to stop the infection and slowly build collective immunity,“ she told the state RTS TV, adding „we must not relax.“

Kisic Tepavcevic, a member of the state anti-epidemic team, said that 537,000 people have received the first dose of a vaccine and that 21,000 have been revaccinated, what, according to her, „Serbia is more successful than many other countries in the world.“

She warned that „whenever the anti-epidemic measures are relaxed, it wouldn’t mean the virus was not here anymore,“ adding that „even when we come to a single-digit number of newly infected, we must be aware that the virus is still present.“