Vaccination and anti-viral treatment in Romania

Romania has registered another all-time high of Covid-19 infections

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Mihai Pelin, 27.01.2022, 14:00

The number of patients infected with Covid-19 in
Romania is alarmingly increasing by the day. A new all-time high was registered
on Wednesday then authorities announced over 43 thousand new cases, 5 thousand
in Bucharest alone, the highest number of infections since the beginning of the
pandemic. New record highs have been reported in other counties as well.

According to Health Minister Alexandru Rafila,
the high number of infections was expected and there are no reasons for people
to panic. Rafila says that it has been for the first time when a large number
of tests have been done in 24 hours.

Alexandru
Rafila: Roughly 110 thousand tests have been carried out allowing us to assess
the evolution generated by the Omicron variant, which is more transmissible
than the previous variants. We continue to have severe cases caused by the
Delta variant, which is still present in Romania, where it accounts for 20-25%
of those infected, most of them being presently treated in ICUs.

Also on Wednesday, Romania kicked off a vaccination campaign for
children with ages between 5 and 11. According to army physician Valeriu
Gheorghita, in charge of Romania’s vaccine rollout, the vaccines approved and
authorized for this age bracket are safe, effective and can prevent over 90% of
the infections. 230 vaccination points have been set up across the country for
this campaign, which is using the vaccine produced by the well-known
pharmaceutical company Pfizer/BioNTech, which
has got the approval for the population above 12 years. Experts have underlined
that in order to get immunized, children must have the approval of their
parents or their legal trustees, who must fill in a special form.

Valeriu Gheorghiţă says that at present, in
Romania, out of the 7 thousand people treated in hospitals, roughly 10% are
children and people under 18 years, and the vaccine prevents the largest number
of severe cases and deaths. However, the interest of the Romanians in getting
the vaccine remains low with a little over 8 million who got the first jab, 7.9
million fully vaccinated and over 2.3 million with the booster. Authorities
have again reminded people that the vaccine is the best way to stop the Covid-19
pandemic.

According to minister Rafila, the first
quantities of Molnupiravir, a drug prescribed to the high-risk patients
infected with the novel coronavirus in hospitals and other treatment facilities
could arrive in Romania late this week. In his opinion, the medicine will have
a positive impact, by reducing the pressure on ICUs as well as the number of
fatalities.

(bill)