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As the sirens of ambulances constantly pierce the air of Romanian cities on their way with new patients to already full hospitals, queues are starting to form in vaccination centers.
Daily data on doses against COVID-19 peaked this month in the second lowest vaccinated country in the European Union. The reason is that Romanians are responding to dramatic mortality rates and recent restrictions.
In the capital, Elena Serban, a 51-year-old seamstress, postponed the vaccine because she had no health problems that would endanger her if she became infected. Now she did it for her own safety. “The situation with COVID-19 (hospitals) scared us,” she told Reuters.
Dumitru Banu, a 55-year-old driver, is injecting himself to circumvent traffic restrictions that went into effect on Monday. “I was vaccinated because of restrictions like evening hours and access to institutions. I would say that everyone needs to be vaccinated so that we can get rid of this pandemic.”
Gabriel Dima, 57, received his first dose at the urging of his daughter, a medical student, although he has his doubts, despite the fact that global regulators that approve vaccines have repeatedly explained that their benefits outweigh the risk of rare side effects.
“I didn’t decide, I wanted to think. I’m afraid of side effects that may occur over time, I don’t think the vaccine has been tested enough. But I did it to keep my daughter calm, but I hope I don’t problems, ”he says.
Romania is at the forefront of the wave of COVID-19, which floods Central and Eastern Europe, and has one of the highest mortality rates in the world.
Approximately one-fifth of Romania’s 45,503 deaths from COVID-19 occurred in October, when a record daily number of those infected filled intensive care beds across the country.
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Although approximately 80% of the EU adult population received the first injection of the vaccine, Romania has managed to complete vaccination by only 38%, reflecting entrenched mistrust in state institutions, underdeveloped rural infrastructure and, according to some public health experts, poor education. dosing campaign.
In October, more people received their first vaccine – just under 1 million out of a total of 6.5 million – than those vaccinated in the three months of summer, the data show. “If the vaccination campaign went very well in March and April, people couldn’t wait to get vaccinated, then since … the beginning of June it has been stagnant, partly due to the easing of restrictions,” said Christian Radu, a doctor at the Coordination Center for vaccination in Bucharest. “In the last two weeks, we’ve been able to see … an increase in the number of people vaccinated.”
Epidemiologist Octavian Jurma said that at the current rate, by December, Romania could deliver the first dose to 10 million people, or half of its population. About 80% of the population may be on a single dose by March 2022.
One area of particular concern remains the elderly, with only 21% of those over 80 receiving an injection, although at the beginning of the campaign they were identified as a priority group after health workers.
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