Since the start of
the vaccine roll-out on December 27, last year, nearly 7.8 million people have received
one of the 4 anti-Covid vaccines-Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and
Johnson&Johnson, and 7.5 million of them are now fully vaccinated.
The number of COVID
19 cases is on the decrease, but authorities are once again calling for
vaccination and compliance with protection measures, while the introduction of the
compulsory COVID certificate before New Year’s is rather unlikely.
The head of the
Department for Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, said that mobile vaccination
centres will be organised in rural areas in the forthcoming period. He also
added that the vaccine is the ‘best solution’ to prevent severe forms of the
disease.
Romanian hospitals
are seeing the lowest number of COVID-19 patients since the start of the 4th
wave, with around 900 patients in intensive care.
The health minister
Alexandru Rafila has recently talked with representatives of family
physician associations. According to
him, one of the main emergencies at the moment is developing the testing
capacity in family physician practices, as well as improving the assessment and
treatment of milder forms of the disease. Funds will be earmarked to this end,
so that patients need not incur additional costs. For confirmed coronavirus
cases, family physicians will be able to prescribe anti-viral medication:
Alexandru Rafila: The refund
package for testing covers the testing as such and the protection materials for
healthcare personnel. Apart from that, for confirmed cases the option of a
minimal funding package will be available, allowing for investigations and the
prescription of outpatient anti-viral treatment, which obviously will be protective
for patients and healthcare STAFF, so as to make sure that anti-viral treatment
is only given after prior assessment of the patients.
At EU
level, Brussels is considering the introduction of compulsory COVID-19
vaccination requirements, as the new variant, Omicron, keeps spreading. Austria has
announced vaccination will be mandatory as of February 1, and it is the first
country in Western Europe and one of the few in the world to take this step. Germany
is also considering making vaccination mandatory, with Parliament to make a
decision in this respect by year end. In turn, Greece announced this measure will
be introduced for citizens over 60 years of age, and similar ideas are taken
into account in other EU member states as well. (tr. A.M. Popescu)