Various vaccination events have been organized in Romania in recent weeks, allowing people to receive a COVID-19 vaccine without a prior appointment. Some of the most popular have been the so-called "vaccination marathons," and more such events will be organized in the coming days.

A new "vaccination marathon" will be held in Bucharest between May 28 and May 31 at Sala Palatului and the National Library. Thirty-five vaccination points will be open round-the-clock at Sala Palatului, while 15 will be set up at the National Library.

A total of 20,360 people were vaccinated at the first edition of the "vaccination marathon" in Bucharest, held between May 7 and May 10. The new event is open both to people who want to receive the second dose and those who want to get their first dose of vaccine.

A similar event will also be organized at the Marin Sorescu National Theater in Craiova, Dolj county, from Friday, May 28 to Tuesday, June 1. No prior appointment is required and the vaccines used are those produced by Pfizer-BioNTech.

The National Theater in Craiova will also hold a second edition on June 18-22, mainly for those who want to get the second dose as well.

Moreover, according to the Ministry of Culture, "those who will get the vaccine in Craiova on May 28 will receive, subject to availability, an invitation for two to the "Dante's Journey" recital by maestro Emil Boroghină, scheduled for the same evening at 19:00. Also, all those vaccinated at the centre set up at the Craiova National Theater have the opportunity to participate in the draw for one of the ten subscriptions valid for the 2021-2022 Season of the Craiova National Theater."

Meanwhile, the vaccination centres set up at military hospitals in Bucharest, Brașov, Cluj, Constanța, Craiova, Iași, and Timișoara are once again open to the general public, round-the-clock, between May 25 and June 1. The centres are mainly open for those who got vaccinated at the first "marathon" held between May 4 and May 11, but also offer vaccines to those who want to receive their first dose. They can choose between the vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson, the Ministry of Defence announced.

Moreover, Valeriu Gheorghita, the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, announced that a "vaccination marathon" dedicated to teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 is scheduled for May 31-June 1. This special marathon will be held in all the vaccination centres set up at the national level.

"Young people, teenagers between 16 and 18 years old, obviously accompanied by parents or legal guardians, can show up at the centre at any time, not only after 14:00, to get the vaccine," Gheorghita said according to Stiri.tvr.ro.

Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry decided to also open its vaccination centres for the general public beginning Wednesday, May 26. Vaccination can be done without an appointment, daily between 8:00 and 16:00.

In related news, Andrei Baciu, the vice-president of the COVID-19 national vaccination committee, said that 42 companies would set up vaccination centres for employees this week, in Bucharest and 21 counties. Among them, Terapia, DeLonghi, the Dacia car plant, Faurecia, Transgaz, and Holzindustrie Schweighofer.

According to official data released on Tuesday, May 25, almost 26% of Romania's eligible population (aged 16 and over) has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This means that more than 4.17 million people are now vaccinated in the country. Most of them (20.69%, or 3.33 million people) are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 5.23% (842,710 people) have received one dose of vaccine.

Meanwhile, more than 11.91 million people (or 74.07% of the eligible population) are still not vaccinated.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)