Romania plans to roll out a phased vaccination campaign, with the stages and their start date to be established depending on the vaccine allocation for every country, president Klaus Iohannis announced on November 23. Specific procedures will be used depending on the available vaccine. 

The president announced that a vaccination campaign strategy was drafted. It is to be approved in the coming days in a meeting of the country’s Supreme Defense Council (CSAT).

Health workers, including those working in residential care centers, people with a high risk of a severe evolution in case of an infection, and staff working in essential areas will be among those given priority in the vaccination campaign.  

Health workers will be vaccinated at their workplace, while the rest of the population will be vaccinated at fixed and mobile centers, by mobile teams, in the family medicine network, and at drive-through centers. 

The vaccine distribution strategy will take into account the required storage and transport requirements. The Defense Ministry will manage the main storage facility and the six regional warehouses, which will ensure the distribution to the local vaccination centers, the president explained.

The Cantacuzino Institute will be the main storage facility for the vaccine that needs to be kept at minus 80 degrees Celsius, the Defense Ministry (MAPN) announced. Six military emergency hospitals in Timișoara, Craiova, Brașov, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, and Constanța will serve as regional storage centers. 

MAPN will transport the vaccine doses to the storage centers, will support the distribution to the vaccination centers in the country, and offer qualified staff for the vaccination teams. 

The vaccination campaign will have a dedicated website, where the public can find all the needed information. “The clear and transparent communication to the citizens, and especially to target groups, is essential, as is the fight against disinformation and the spread of false information,” Iohannis said.

The president also explained the vaccines “once approved by the international organizations, are safe, efficient, and are the only viable solution to end the pandemic.”

Vaccination will be voluntary, prime minister Ludovic Orban explained, speaking of the communication campaign regarding the vaccination.

“The vaccination will not be compulsory. The authorities cannot force anyone to get vaccinated. We can show the advantages of getting vaccinated, we can try to convince them to get vaccinated, but we obviously cannot force anyone to get vaccinated. Of course, vaccination is the best solution to not getting this disease. A successful vaccination campaign can get us closer to normality within a reasonable timeframe,” Orban said on November 23, quoted by Mediafax.

(Photo: Presidency.ro)

simona@romania-insider.com