Strategies to boost vaccination

Amidst fears sparked by the spread of the Delta strain of COVID-19, Romanian authorities are looking for new ways to boost immunization

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Roxana Vasile, 13.07.2021, 14:00

Daily figures of COVID-19
infection in Romanian remain low, much like most of the last few weeks. The
number of people diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 is in the dozens at national level. Many
counties across the country have been reporting no new cases of infection, and the
incidence rate is 0.3%. Hospitals are no longer overrun, intensive care units
are no longer facing mounting pressure from the large number of patients, and
the death toll is low. Even so, experts and the authorities alike fear the Delta
strain of COVID-19 might become dominant and spread fast across the world. There
is growing talk of a fourth wave of the pandemic, which is likely to hit
Romania as well this autumn. Lawmakers say the only way to effectively
counteract the dangerous effects of this new virus strain is to get as many
people as possible vaccinated, despite a significant slowdown in the
immunization campaign. In an effort to breathe new life into it, the
coordinator of the campaign, medical doctor Valeriu
Gheorghiță, launched a series of talks with experts regarding the importance of
vaccination. Cătălin Ţucureanu, an immunology and vaccinology scientific
researcher with the Cantacuzino Institute in Bucharest, believes the best
strategy to stop the spread of the virus is for people to complete the
vaccination scheme.

The higher the vaccination
rate, the easier it is to keep the pandemic in check. If we look at Great
Britain, we can see a rising spread of the Delta strain, both in the
unvaccinated population, as well as in that part of the population that got
only one shot of the vaccine. Delta-strain infections already account for a
third of total cases reported in January. In South Africa, a country with a 5-7%
vaccination coverage, the Delta strain has already triggered a new wave of
infections.

Right now, approximately a
quarter of Romania’s population is vaccinated against COVID-19, most people
having completed the full vaccination scheme. This is a long shot from the 70%
target set by the authorities in spring. To convince more people to get
immunized, the authorities are setting up on-the-go vaccination centers in all
sorts of venues. A drive-through center will open on July 17 at 2,145-m
altitude on one of the Romania’s most spectacular roads, Transalpina. The first
50 people to get immunized will also receive concert tickets. (VP)