Romanians signed up in large numbers to get vaccinated on the first day of the vaccination campaign's second stage, which is dedicated to old aged persons, people with chronic diseases, and essential workers in public services.

Some 190,000 people reportedly registered in the online system on the first day, out of whom 50,000 in Bucharest.

As of January 17, 305,562 individuals had registered to take the vaccine.

The total vaccination capacity for the January 18 - February 6 period is 364,800 people.

The preliminary limit calculated for the first three-week period for the capital city was already reached on the first day.

Dr Valeriu Gheorghita, the vaccination campaign coordinator, said that the situation might be revised (such as to accommodate the large number of people wanting to get vaccinated).

Encouraged by the high registration rate, prime minister Florin Citu assured that at least 75% of those aged 65 and over would get vaccinated in the coming period, G4media.ro reported.

Half of those who already registered on the online system (56.3%) are old-aged persons.

At the same time, the Education Ministry instructed all the schools to register their personnel for vaccination to make school reopening as of February 8 possible.

(Photo: Gov.ro)

andrei@romania-insider.com