New measures ahead of the anti-Covid vaccination campaign
The Bucharest Government has adopted the norms regarding the authorization, structure and functioning of the vaccination centres
Leyla Cheamil, 18.12.2020, 14:00
About a year after the first cases of Covid-19 were reported, triggering a global medical and economic crisis, the anti-Covid vaccine gives people hope that the virus can be defeated. Preparations for the vaccination campaign are under way in Romania, where the number of people infected gets close to 600 thousand. The Bucharest Government has adopted the norms regarding the authoritsation, structure and functioning of the vaccination centres. Also, funds have been allocated to this end, while the involvement of two other ministries in this campaign has been decided.
Health Minister Nelu Tataru: “The legal framework has been drawn up so that the Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry, through the institutions they coordinate, should carry out the activities stipulated under the law. Through this joint order, the authoritsation, structure and functioning of the vaccination centres have also been adopted, as well as the funds needed for the organization and functioning of these centres, to be covered from the budget of the institutions and ministries involved in this campaign.”
Nelu Tătaru has also said that through a government decision, the Health Ministry will receive more funds to purchase new stocks of medicines and treatment for the patients infected with Covid-19. The national committee that coordinates the anti-Covid vaccination campaign has announced that a first symbolic batch of vaccine will go to the medical staff working in the 10 phase I medical units. The next batch is expected to arrive in Romania around December 26-31, given that the European Medicine Agency set December 23 as the most likely date for vaccine approval.
In January, Romania should receive another 600,000 doses of vaccine. The National Vaccine Centre, set up in Bucharest, will receive all vaccine doses and then distribute them to regional centres such as the Military Hospital in Timisoara and Brasov and to similar health units in Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Constanta and Craiova. From the regional centres, the vaccine will be distributed to immunization centres in every county. The World Health Organisation has warned that the people vaccinated against Covid-19 should further wear masks and observe the safety distance. (Translated by Elena Enache)