"The vaccine will soon reach Lithuania and the role of municipalities in vaccinating people will be very important," he told a news conference. "Municipalities are more or less prepared to organize this whole process smoothly, but there is a lack of clarity from the central government on the exact order of vaccinations."

The president was speaking after a virtual meeting with the mayors of the capital and other municipalities in the region of Vilnius.

While no major problems are expected to occur when the first batches arrive, the government must clarify the order of priority for vaccinations in later stages, according to the president.

The Health Ministry has said that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is expected to be approved by the European Medicines Agency on December 21 and be delivered to Lithuania and other EU member states during the Christmas period. The first vaccinations in Lithuania are planned to start on December 27.

Nauseda said he will strongly advocate in favor of vaccination and will himself take a COVID-19 vaccine when his turn comes.

He believes that "the vast majority of people are ready to get vaccinated".

The 56-year-old president noted that he will not be among the first to get a shot of the vaccine "either in terms of my age group or my category".

Nauseda said he did not yet know when larger vaccine shipments could reach Lithuania, but said it was clear that the first batches of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine could be delivered on a weekly basis.

"As to Moderna, the European agency should make the authorization decision on January 6, if I'm not mistaken, and the vaccine should probably be delivered to Lithuania within in a few days," he said.

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