Romania will speed up its COIVD-19 vaccination campaign, as the government's goal is to have 10.4 million people vaccinated in September. Prime minister Florin Citu said that the country could reach 150,000 vaccinations made daily, provided that the doses are delivered.

"We said that the vaccination campaign is going well, but today we also have an international confirmation. Bloomberg presented some data showing that Romania ranks 18th globally and 6th in the European Union in terms of this vaccination campaign. There are several statistics. As I said, I'm interested in how we get the doses, to speed up the pace," Citu said in an interview with Europa FM, Digi24 reported.

According to the prime minister, there has been a gradual increase from an average of 13,000 vaccines made daily to 34,000 made on January 19, and possibly 50,000 soon. "We said we could get to 150,000 vaccines a day, provided that we have the doses," the PM said.

Florin Citu also said that, according to the latest data received from the government, Romania would receive by the end of March "2.4 million doses from Pfizer, plus 430,000 doses from Moderna." 

"And that doesn't mean there are 2.8 million people because we have to take into account the second dose as well, but there will be a significant number of people vaccinated […]. The target that we announced, which is a firm target, is to have 10.4 million people vaccinated with the two doses in September. And to have this goal achieved, we bought another 8 million doses," Citu said. 

Romania's COVID-19 vaccination campaign is carried out in three stages. The first one, which started on December 27, targeted the medical personnel. The second phase, which kicked off on January 15, covers vulnerable groups and those working in essential areas, while the third stage will include the rest of the population.

Around 270,000 people in Romania received the COVID-19 vaccine by Tuesday, January 19, and 2,622 of them got both doses. President Klaus Iohannis and prime minister Florin Citu were among those who got the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine last week. The deputy prime ministers and the government members also received the first vaccine dose on Wednesday morning, January 20.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gov.ro)