A batch of 700,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses will reach Ireland after an agreement with Romania was finalized, Libertatea reported quoting an announcement from the Irish Taoiseach (PM) Micheál Martin.

Romania decided to sell some of the vaccine doses it purchased as the Government expects it won't be able to use them due to the low vaccination rate. At the end of June, a batch of one million Pfizer vaccine doses was sold to Denmark. 

Micheál Martin called the agreement "fantastic news and a welcome boost to our roll-out, which continues to experience huge support and uptake from the Irish public".

We’ve completed a deal to secure an additional 700,000 #CovidVaccines from Romania/EU.

Fantastic news and a welcome boost to our rollout, which continues to experience huge support and uptake from the Irish public.

— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) August 3, 2021

Andrei Baciu, a state secretary with the Health Ministry, told Libertatea the doses were not currently needed for the vaccination campaign. The sale will not impact the country's vaccination campaign in case the authorities decide to start administering a third dose of the vaccine, he explained. 

According to data from the Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker of the European Center for Disease Prevention, Ireland had a cumulative uptake of at least one vaccine dose among adults older than 18 of 87.2%. Romania's uptake was 31.5%. By August 3, 5,024,979 received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in Romania, and 4,878,939 were fully vaccinated. 

(Photo: Ronstik | Dreamstime.com)

simona@romania-insider.com