Vaccination marathons continue

The vaccination marathons held in Romania were a success

Ştefan Stoica, 10.05.2021, 14:00

Romania on
Sunday exceeded 6 million doses of vaccines administered since the start of the
anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the authorities have announced. Every day
this weekend, over 100 thousand people got vaccination. Bucharest hosted a
three-day marathon, labeled a success by the Health Ministry. So far Romania
has over 3.6 million people who’ve taken at least one shot of the vaccine.
Still, it is unclear if the 5 million target set by the authorities will be fulfilled
by June 1, when a further ease of restrictions is expected. According to Health
Minister Ioana Mihăilă, the mark could be
hit in mid-June. The Romanian official again called on family physicians to get
involved in the national vaccination campaign. So far, a little over 3,500
vaccines have been administered by family physicians. Drive-through vaccination
centers are extremely sought-after, as well as appointment-free vaccination
events. Some 1,200 volunteers took part in the vaccination marathon in
Bucharest, including doctors, medical nurses, resident doctors and medical students.
A number of well-established doctors got involved, including pediatrician Mihai
Craiu, the coordinator of the one of the two centers that hosted the vaccination
marathon in Bucharest. People want to get immunized for two reasons, Dr. Mihai
Craiu said.

I’ve talked to the people and they hope
to get antibodies after getting the vaccine, which will bring them the possibility
and peace of mind of meeting their family members. There are a lot of senior
citizens who’ve told me, on the verge of tears, that they haven’t been able to
see their children, their grandchildren, because they were scared not to get
sick. They haven’t been able to travel to the places where their kids work, because
PCR tests are quite expensive when compared to the average pension in Romania. The
second reason, and I’m referring to young people in particular, since I’ve
vaccinated a lot of teenagers who came accompanied by their parents, who signed
the consent forms, is that they want to go camping again, to travel, to hang
out in parks and see each other smile again, things that haven’t been possible
in the last year.

Appointment-free vaccination is now
available in all vaccination centers in the country. The number of
drive-through centers has also increased, and the authorities are planning
other marathon-like vaccination events in the coming period. In Craiova, a
vaccination marathon has kicked off and will last 8 days. Similar events will be
held this weekend in Iaşi, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureş, Constanţa, Petroşani or
Ploieşti. One of the organizers of the first vaccination marathon in Romania,
held in Timişoara, Dr. Dorel Săndesc, said that people who come to get their
second shot will also benefit from a free-of-charge general screening, and will
undergo tests to identify the presence of chronic illnesses in at-risk
categories. (V.P.)