Vaccine tourism: Why are people crossing borders for a jab?

Some are travelling for inoculations, arguing that they are protecting others. But experts have raised ethical concerns.

Brussels, Belgium – One Saturday morning in late March, Milicia Praca and her roommate grabbed their passports and a bag of crisps and drove towards the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the Republic of Serbia. They were keen to accomplish an important task – enter Serbia, pull up their sleeves, and get vaccinated against COVID-19. “We heard that Serbia had an excess supply of vaccines and was also offering them to foreigners. We instantly decided to travel to Belgrade to get our jabs because the rollout of vaccines in Bosnia is very slow,” said Praca, a 29-year-old human rights activist based in Banja Luka, Bosnia, who also holds Serbian citizenship.