December 27, 2021 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 27.12.2021, 20:00

COVID-19 ROMANIA – One year since the administration of the first COVID
vaccine dose in Romania, the country ranks last but one at EU level in terms of
the vaccination rate, with almost 7.8 million Romanians being fully vaccinated,
accounting for just over 40 % of the total population. The data also show that
almost 2 million Romanians have so far taken the booster. Some 40% of the total
population have completed the full vaccination scheme. The situation reveals a
rather low interest in vaccination, except for short periods of enthusiasm or
fears caused by successive waves of the pandemic. A total of 566 new cases of
SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported in the last 24 hours and 24 related
deaths, the Strategic Communication Group reported on Monday. About 450
patients are in ICUs, over 90% of them being unvaccinated. 38 cases of the
Omicron strain have been confirmed in Romania.

COVID-19 WORLD – This year’s Christmas was also strongly affected by
the pandemic, and the situation remains dramatic in Europe. The highest
infection rate is reported in the United Kingdom, where new restrictions have
taken effected starting Monday, with the exception of England. Over 122
thousand infections were reported on Christmas Eve, against the backdrop of the
spread of the Omicron strain. France too has exceeded the number of 100
thousand daily infections. In Italy, the number of daily infections has doubled
compared to last week. Starting January 10, Italy will start administering the anti-COVID
booster, after four months since completing the vaccination scheme consisting
of two shots, two months earlier than the reference period. The measure was
taken in an attempt to limit the spread of the Omicron strain. Starting
February, the green certificate will only be available for six months after
receiving the two shots.

NATO – NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene on
January 12 a NATO-Russia Council – a co-operation body set up in 2002, now
suspended due to the conflict in Ukraine – and he is in contact with Moscow on
the matter, an Alliance official in Brussels announced. On Thursday, Jens
Stoltenberg reaffirmed his support for Ukraine and his determination to protect
all NATO allies against Russia’s actions, adding that he was always open to
dialogue with Moscow. Russia and the West accuse each other of challenging
actions by strengthening military capabilities at common borders. Russia wants
a firm guarantee that NATO will not accept Ukraine as a member, a request that
NATO rejected in the past, as well as to limit Western military cooperation in
Eastern Europe and the former USSR member states. President Vladimir Putin did
not say how Russia would react if its demands were not met, stressing that the
answer depended on the proposals the military experts present him with. The EU,
the US and NATO have warned Moscow that there will be serious consequences in
case of a military escalation.

STATISTICS – Romanian households remained on first place in the
EU in 2020 in terms of the share of food and non-alcoholic beverage spending
out of the total consumption expenses, show data released by Eurostat on
Monday. While in the EU the average is 14.8%, Romanian households last year
allocated 26.4% of total consumption expenditure on food and non-alcoholic
beverages. On the other hand, Romania is better than most member states when it
comes to the share of expenses on housing, water, electricity, gas and other
fuels out of the total household consumption expenditure. At EU level, these
expenditures accounted for more than a quarter (25.7%) of the total consumption
expenditure in 2020, while in Romania the percentage was 18.8%. According to
Eurostat, these increases are a consequence of the quarantines and mobility
restrictions that have been imposed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(LS & VP)