Romania aims to reach a COVID-19 vaccination coverage rate of 70% in 2022 and 90% in 2023, according to Health Secretary of State Andrei Baciu (pictured, left). He said that the vaccination targets are included in a draft Government Decision.

“Vaccination against COVID-19 in 2021 was done based on a vaccination strategy that was defined by a group of experts in 2020 and subsequently approved by Government Decision,” Baciu said, quoted by News.ro, adding that the targets for the following period are set in the same way.

Thus, for 2022, the goal is to reach a vaccination coverage rate of 20% for children under 12 years of age and 70% for the general population aged 12 and over. The vaccination target for 2023 is 90% of the population over 12.

In his turn, Valeriu Gheorghita (pictured, right), the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, said that Romania couldn’t reach the 70% COVID-19 vaccination target by the end of 2021, as fewer people received a vaccine in the first week of November.

“283,967 people received their first dose in the week of November 1-7, most of them under the age of 60. […] Compared to the previous week, when we had over 575,000 new people vaccinated, there is a 50% drop in the number of people vaccinated with the first dose,” Gheorghita said, according to Digi24.

“Obviously, if we maintain this vaccination rate of about 25,000 new people a day, the total number of people we can reach by the end of this year would be about 8.5 million - so much less than we initially expected -, which represents approximately 50% of the eligible population over 12 years of age,” he added.

At the end of October, when the vaccination campaign seemed to pick up speed again, Valeriu Gheorghita said that Romania would most likely hit the 70% COVID-19 vaccination target by the end of the year. However, the numbers started to drop again in early November, which was probably the reason the authorities revised the vaccination targets.

“A vaccination rate of 50% of the eligible population is totally insufficient to prevent a significant impact of the next pandemic waves, it is not enough even for the ongoing fourth wave,” Gheorghita said on Tuesday.

Also, the head of the vaccination campaign expects the reopening of schools to translate into more COVID-19 infections.

“Obviously, as the physical interaction increases, so does the exposure and likelihood of being exposed to this infection. The cause is not necessarily the time spent at school, but the related activities - going to school, going by public transport, all will lead to an increased risk of infection,” he explained.

According to the official report released on November 9, almost 67,900 people received a COVID-19 vaccine in 24 hours, and only 26,762 got their first dose. The numbers are much lower than those reported on October 26, for example: more than 150,000 people vaccinated in 24 hours, of which 111,000 with the first dose.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gov.ro)