The information marathon

Romania held “vaccine information marathon at the weekend as vaccine intake again slowed down.

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Bogdan Matei, 08.11.2021, 13:50

An information marathon was held in Romania at the weekend at the same
time as the vaccination marathons held from 8 am to midnight every day from Friday
to Sunday at medical centres in the capital Bucharest and around the country. Dozens
of doctors and specialists provided information and explanations in events
hosted by the National Library in Bucharest and broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube.
The experts discussed a whole range of aspects related to vaccination and the
virus, from possible side effects, allergy, how Covid affects young people to
the introduction of the Covid pass, the situation in hospitals and the impact
of fake news, in an attempt to break most Romanians’ reticence to vaccination.

The initiative comes at a time when the pace of vaccination has again
slowed down. With opinion polls indicating low trust in politicians and
doctors, whose image has been tarnished by many corruption scandals and malpractice
over the years, too few people in Romania are convinced that vaccination is the
way to overcome the pandemic. Fewer than 25,000 went for their first vaccine
dose on Sunday, the lowest numbers in the last three weeks. On Friday, Romania hit
50,000 Covid deaths since the pandemic began.

Against the background of a
genuine anti-vaccine psychosis, fuelled by part of the media, some politicians
and public figures and an entire cohort of conspiracy theorists on social
media, Romania has the second lowest vaccination rates in the European Union
after Bulgaria, with Croatia and Latvia also seeing low vaccine intake. Reticence
to vaccination is more widespread, in fact, in central and eastern Europe.

Romanian sociologists believe vaccination rates may pick up again if
legislation is passed to introduce the Covid pass in the workplace. The bill was
rejected by the Senate by a margin of two votes, but it’s the Chamber of
Deputies that is the decision-making body in this respect, so it may still
pass. The bill proposes that employees who cannot produce a Covid pass may see
their work contracts suspended for up to 30 days. If they fail to produce the
pass beyond this date, state employees face dismissal, while private sector
employees face another suspension or termination of contract. Employees who
refuse vaccination would have to get tested for Covid regularly and at their
own expense. (CM)