Romania is set to receive a new batch of 180,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine next week, which will add to the 130,000 doses currently in storage, according to Valeriu Gheorghita, the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign. He also said that almost 500,000 people are scheduled for the vaccine until February 8, and the first two weeks of February "will be complicated," News.ro reported.

"Currently, nearly 500,000 people are scheduled until February 8, plus those who have already received the first dose and have to get the second dose during this period," Gheorghita said, adding that currently, the vaccine reserve covers the necessary, but not more than that. "At the end of the first week of February, our stock will get close to zero," he told local B1 TV.

Thus, Valeriu Gheorghita expects the first two weeks of February to be "complicated."

"It is clear that the demand for vaccination far exceeds the vaccine availability we have today. I want to add that we also want to increase the number of vaccinated people as soon as possible," Gheorghita said. But he also explained that the vaccination campaign is conditioned by the number of vaccine doses available.

If the AstraZeneca vaccine is also approved, the number of doses may increase, the vaccine campaign coordinator also said. So far, Romania has received vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech.

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

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.

By Thursday, January 21, a total of 328,408 received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Romania, and 9,844 got both doses.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Gov.ro)