VACCINE – The development,
\ndistribution and administration of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine in record time
\nwill help limit and eradicate the pandemic as quickly as possible, Romania’s
\nPrime Minister, Florin C\u00ee\u0163u said on Saturday. The first doses of anti-COVID-19
\nvaccine arrived in Romania on Friday, and on Saturday they were delivered to
\nthe military and medical institute in Bucharest, which will serve as a national
\ncenter for stockpiling the vaccine. The head of the national vaccination
\ncampaign, the military doctor Valeriu Gheorghi\u0163\u0103, said there are currently few
\nreasons advising against taking the vaccine, adding that communication and
\ninformation will help everyone take the best decision for himself, his family
\nand community as a whole. The first vaccines will be administered on Sunday to
\nthe medical workers in infectious disease hospitals. The first stage in the
\nvaccination campaign will be finalized in January. In the second phase, people
\nin at-risk categories and workers in key areas will be vaccinated, while
\nvaccination for the bulk of the population is due to start in April. To ensure
\nits efficiency, some 60 to 70% of the country’s population needs to take the
\nvaccine. Right now, the acceptance rate for the COVID-19 vaccine stands at some
\n40%. In hospitals, the acceptance rate is 90% in COVID wards. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN ROMANIA – Over 614 thousand
\ninfections with SARS-CoV-2 have been reported in Romania so far, some 1,400 new
\ncases having been reported on Saturday. Most new cases were signaled in
\nBucharest. Another 85 COVID-related deaths have also been reported, taking the
\nnational death toll to some 15,000. 1,210 people are currently in intensive
\ncare. Nearly 85% of people who got infected have recovered. <\/p>\n
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COVID-19 IN THE WORLD – Over 80 million
\npeople have got infected with COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak,
\naccounting for 1% of the world’s population, the World Health Organization
\nreports. On Christmas Day, over 655 thousand new infections were reported. The
\nglobal death toll is closing in on 1.8 million. Most infections are reported in
\nthe United States, Europe and South Asia. <\/p>\n
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CELEBRATION – On December 26, on
\nthe second day of Christmas, Romanian Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians celebrated
\nthe Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God, a Christian holiday honoring Mary,
\nmother of Jesus Christ. Roman-Catholics in Romania celebrated Saint Stephen,
\nthe first Christian martyr, who in the Eastern-Catholic and Orthodox Churches
\nis celebrated on December 27.<\/p>\n
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POPE FRANCIS – Due to the threat
\nof the coronavirus, Pope Francis on Saturday delivered the Angelus traditional
\nprayer via videolink from the library of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. In
\nhis prayer, Pope Francis underlined the importance of forgiveness and prayed
\nfor Christians who are being persecuted for their faith. Italy is in lockdown
\nduring the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Due to the restrictions in
\nplace, the Christian faithful could not gather in St. Peter’s square to attend
\nthe traditional mass, which has been moved to the Apostolic Palace. On Friday,
\nobserving the recently adopted restrictions, Pope Francis gave his Urbi et Orbi
\nblessing during an online transmission broadcast from the Apostolic Palace in
\nthe Vatican. The Pope spoke of the fraternity of the world’s nations, urging
\nthem to share the vaccines developed to combat the COVID-19 virus. (V. Palcu)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of domestic and international news<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":75903,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[35941,35374,35942,29663,32402],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-104814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsflash","tag-christmas-celebrations","tag-covid-19","tag-national-campaign","tag-pope-francis","tag-vaccine"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n