Vaccination campaign picks up speed in Romania

Romania gets close to its vaccination target of 20 thousand shots per day.

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Eugen Coroianu, 05.01.2021, 14:00

The anti-Covid vaccination campaign picks up speed in Romania. On Monday, the number of immunized people almost equalled the one reported over the entire week before. The National Institute of Public Health announced on Monday evening a total of over 25 thousand shots, a figure supplied by the National Online Immunization Registry. Also by Monday evening, 47 cases of common mild side effects were reported. Of them, eight people experienced local side effects, with tenderness at the injection site while 39 others had general side effects such as fever, headache, muscle ache, joint ache, tiredness, anxiety and rash.

The coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, Col. Dr. Valeriu Gheorghita, had previoulsy announced the immunization campaign would be sped up and also the start of vaccination in over 90% of the 370 centres in the country. The estimated figure is 20,000 immunized people a day. Valeriu Gheorghita also said that by mid-January most medical staff would get the first dose of the vaccine, which allows for the second stage of the campaign to start and to unforld at a higher speed, also depending on the number of doses available. Under the national immunization strategy, a total of 900 vaccination centres have been opened for the second stage.

Romania will receive via the EU, in the first phase, 8.5 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine. As of Monday, vaccination is conducted in all military hospitals in Romania, according to the Defence Ministry, which said in a release that the vaccination of the healthcare staff is an act of responsibility that ensures their protection and secures further medical services for all patients. The vaccination unit at the Military Hospital in Bucharest is also operational, and 70% of its medical staff has requested to be immunised. The personnell who has assisted directly to the Covid patients are the first to receive the vaccine.

Valeriu Gheorghita said Tuesday, after being immunized in front of the cameras, that vaccination is the safe, effective and quick measure that can help us go back to normal. It is time to reduce the negative consequences of this pandemic, limit the loss of lives and remove everything that has affected us during this period, he also said. (Translated by Elena Enache)