Health Minister Nelu Tataru said on Sunday in Husi, Vaslui County, that the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Romania will most likely start in January 2021.
He added that the first to be vaccinated would be the healthcare workers, and that he will himself get vaccinated.
"First are those in the public and private healthcare system. There are almost 550,000 people in the count, followed by those who are institutionalised, then those who ensure the well-being and proper functioning of thesociety. I will certainly get vaccinated. I have repeated from the beginning of the pandemic that we can only get immunised by getting sick or getting vaccinated. This year we have been waiting for the vaccine to come in. This vaccine has been created; we are waiting for an authorisation from the European Medicines Agency. Hopefully that will come before Christmas, so that from January, we can get vaccinated, "said Tataru.
At the same time, he added that the state of alert will be extended from December 14.
"We will deal with each area separately. We have those restrictions, those rules imposed. To the extent that we have a decrease in the community [spread], no additional rules will follow. When there is an increase in the number of cases we can intervene with additional rules, "Tataru said.