At Romania’s request, the European Commission has halted supplies of nearly 4.5 million coronavirus vaccines because Romania is unable to use the vaccine at the originally planned pace, and large stocks have already accumulated, MTI says.
Health Minister Andre Pasio said at a press conference for the Committee for the Coordination of the Vaccination Campaign (CNCAV) on Tuesday that 7.1 million doses of the vaccine should have arrived in June, but Romania requested only 2.6 million of them. He added that the European Commission had already predicted at the start of the campaign that a surplus of the vaccine could develop after some time, so the treaties would also allow member states to donate or sell surplus vaccines.
In Romania, the legal requirement for this has not yet been set, and it is feared that the guarantee on the accumulated vaccine stock will expire in the meantime. Less than sixty percent of the 15 million doses that have reached the country have been used so far.
In Romania, according to reports a month ago, about 120 thousand people can be vaccinated per day. The number of doses taken in mid-May only exceeded one hundred thousand per day for a few days, and since then the daily average has fallen to less than fifty thousand. While the number of people vaccinated with the first dose increased by an average of 42,000 per day in mid-May, the number of people vaccinated now is increasing by only 15,000 per day.
In Romania, with a population of 19.3 million, 4 million 580 thousand people have so far received at least one dose, and 4 million 245 thousand people have been fully vaccinated.
Military doctor Valerio Gorgeta, coordinator of the vaccination campaign, said that due to lack of interest, 11 vaccination centers were closed, and 127 working hours were reduced. Of the nearly one thousand vaccination centers in Romania, more than four hundred vaccination centers use half of their capacity.
According to the coordinator, the epidemic will certainly recover again with the autumn cold, but at the same time it is likely that in the next fourth wave, the most contagious delta virus variant, which will lead to a health disaster in India, will become dominant in Romania.
That’s why it’s important that everyone in Romania gets the vaccine, Gheorghita noted. To this end, mobile vaccination points will visit all 2,800 municipalities in Romania within a month and a half, and the drop-off schedule will be published on the vaccination campaign website by the end of the week.
