The number of infections with Covid will accelerate around mid-January, and the fifth wave prompted by the new variant Omicron will be twice as ample as the fourth wave, according to Romanian health minister Alexandru Rafila.

As many as 800,000 people could get infected in the fifth wave - twice as many as in the previous one - and the daily rate will peak at 25,000 persons, Rafila told television station Antena 3 in an interview.

Speaking about the Covid Pass, he explained that the more it is deferred, the less relevant it becomes.

The Parliament failed to endorse the Covid Pass Law before the winter recess because no party accepted to bear the political cost. In its initial form, the pass was supposed to become mandatory for employees.

"I can't tell you at this time, the next few weeks will probably be decisive, and we will have an answer related to this pass. The later it is introduced in the evolution of a pandemic wave, the more its utility decreases," concluded Rafila.

As the government failed to come up with tighter restrictions in the form of a Covid pass mandatory for employees, the vaccination rate has decreased toward the end of the year.

Minister Rafila recently estimated the "actual" vaccination rate at around 50%, given the actual resident population is smaller than the official one. Some eight mln Romanians are vaccinated (two doses), he estimated. 

(Photo: Andrey Zhuravlev | Dreamstime.com)

andrei@romania-insider.com