BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia is opening a new hospital for COVID-19 patients that was built to ease pressure on an overburdened health system.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic formally inaugurated the hospital located just outside Belgrade. It has nearly 1,000 beds, including 250 for patients in intensive care units. The first patients will be admitted later Friday.

Brnabic says the new facility will take some of the load off other medical facilities, particularly in the capital. Belgrade’s hospitals are full and patients are being sent to other parts of the country.

Serbia also received a first batch of Russian vaccines against the new coronavirus for laboratory testing and verification. Officials have said the country wants to acquire all vaccines available and that citizens will be able to choose which one they want to receive.

In recent weeks, Serbia has reported thousands of new confirmed coronavirus cases in the Balkan nation of 7 million people.