SKOPJE, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Vaccination against COVID-19 started in North Macedonia on Wednesday in a hospital in the capital city of Skopje, Media Information Agency (MIA) reported.

According to MIA, the first citizens to receive COVID-19 shot were a doctor and a head nurse of the Infectious Disease Clinic in Skopje.

Via a Facebook post, Health Minister Venko Filipce announced the start of the immunization process against COVID-19 in North Macedonia.

According to Filipce, the vaccination process will continue with the medical staff in COVID-19 centers and hospitals in Skopje, to be followed by the healthcare workers in other hospitals across the country and in private hospitals.

North Macedonia received on Feb. 14 the first batch of 4,680 out of 8,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses. According to Filipce, the remaining batch of Pfizer vaccines is set to arrive in North Macedonia by next week.

According to the Health Ministry, the vaccination process in North Macedonia will be carried out in three phases, starting with high-risk groups, including health workers and people over the age of 70.

On Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported 347 new coronavirus cases, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases in North Macedonia to 97,803, with 88,469 recoveries and 3,010 fatalities.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 250 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 69 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Feb. 16. Enditem

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