Eight million people immunized in Romania
Eight million Romanians have been vaccinated so far.
Eugen Coroianu, 12.01.2022, 14:00
Romania has reached the threshold of 8 million people immunized with a least one dose of the anti-Covid vaccine, ranking last but one in the EU in this respect, with most of its population being reluctant to immunization. The number of people who get vaccinated at this period is small, in spite of Romania having has enough stocks of all vaccines approved in the EU. These vaccines were ordered, purchased and distributed via the European Union, and the country found itself in the position of having unused doses, which could have expired. For this reason, Romania sold or donated some of the surplus. The most recent such example is Germany having purchased from Romania 5 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, to speed up vaccination with the booster dose. These vaccines will be available in Germany starting January 24, according to German health authorities. Romania also sold or donated anti-Covid vaccines to countries like Denmark, the Republic of Moldova, South Korea, Egypt and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, there is sustained community transmission of the Omicron variant in Romania, according to the National Statistics Institute. Almost half of the new cases had no contact with a person diagnosed with Covid. Some 203 cases of infection with Omicron were confirmed in the past week, this strain being identified in about two thirds of the sequenced samples. Romania now has one of the fastest growing numbers of new Covid-19 infections in Europe, but less than 4% of them require hospitalization, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said. He also said that a new system was put in place, which allows patients to be tested and examined by general practitioners. Also, people with moderate forms of the disease can go to one of the 230 outpatient medical centers for investigations, X-ray and CT scans, depending on the case, and some of them will receive anti-viral medication or be referred to hospitals if they need oxygen or more complex medical care.
The head of the Victor Babes Hospital of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Simin Florescu, has warned that the 5th pandemic wave is in full swing in Romania and that unvaccinated people are in danger. The number of hospitalizations is growing, having doubled from the previous days, Simin Florescu also said. (EE)
