Romania set to give first COVID-19 vaccine dose to two million more people by year end

Romania's COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV) announces that the country is set to give a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines to two million more of its nationals by the end of 2021 and bring the mass immunisation rate to 70% in Q1 2022.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe and WHO Romania, together with senior officials of the Ministry of Health, the National Centre for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control and CNCAV, discussed on Monday in a virtual meeting the reasons for the current COVID-19 vaccination trends.

According to a press statement released by CNCAV, the Romanian side informed the WHO specialists about a surge in severe COVID-19 cases and deaths following infection, with CNCAV saying that 92% of deaths were recorded in unvaccinated persons. Most of them had other diseases, but COVID-19 related deaths were also reported in young people, children and the active population, Agerpres informs.

"There are large differences in vaccine coverage from one county to another, with the northeastern and southern counties having a lower vaccination coverage. Coverage by age groups shows vaccination coverage of approximately 50% of people aged 50 to 69 years, but only about 20% of people over 80. There is also a gender gap, as women are significantly less vaccinated than men, with a difference of almost 20% in people aged over 60. Romania's goal is to vaccinate two million more people against COVID-19 (first dose) by the end of this year (45% of the population) and 70% of the population before the first quarter of 2022."

According to CNCAV, vaccination in the overall population in Romania is low and stagnant, ranking below average regional vaccination. Also, mass immunisation is below expectations for vulnerable, priority groups, meaning people over 80 years of age.

"The WHO modelling shows that if the vaccination rate of the last six weeks and the vaccination strategies in force are maintained, in about seven months Romania will reach a vaccination coverage of 40% for the total population and in approximately 31 months a vaccination coverage of 70%. WHO has noticed a steady increase in vaccination over the past three weeks, but especially of people under the age of 50. It is important for Romania to focus on providing life-saving vaccines to those most at risk for death and serious forms of the disease, such as the elderly, people with chronic diseases and other categories at risk (pregnant people, staff working in key areas)," reads the CNCAV statement.