Radio România Internațional

Tag: Gheorghita

  • November 6, 2021 UPDATE

    November 6, 2021 UPDATE

    SPORT
    Romanian swimmer David
    Popovici won gold in the 200 meter freestyle race of the European Short Course
    Swimming Championships underway in Kazan, Russia. This has been the third medal
    for Romania after silver and bronze won by Robert Glinta in the 100 meter and
    50 meter backstroke race. In another development, Romanian tennis player Horia
    Tecau and his German partner Kevin Krawietz have qualified for Nitto ATP Finals
    in Turin over November 14th and 21st a competition, which
    is the year-end climax to the ATP Tour season
    and features only the world’s best eight qualified singles players and doubles
    teams. Tecau and Krawietz, who are presently ranking 7th in the ATP
    Doubles Race, have booked tickets for Turin after the results they obtained at
    Paris Masters. The tournament in Turin would be Tecau’s seventh participation
    in the Nitto ATP Finals.






    COVID-19 Authorities in Romania on Saturday announced over 8
    thousand new Covid -19 infections. 490 new fatalities have also been reported
    bringing the death toll since the beginning of the pandemic to 50 thousand. Romania
    continues to get international assistance in its efforts to keep the pandemic
    at bay. Another four patients in severe conditions are to be transported for
    treatment to hospitals in the Czech Republic and Denmark and a medical team of
    experts is to arrive in Romania from Israel to help the local physicians in
    their efforts to fight the pandemic. The head of Romania’s Department for
    Emergency Situations, Raed Arafat, says that although the number of infections
    is on a downward trend, hospitals will remain overcrowded for another couple of
    weeks and the number of fatalities remains higher. Arafat has also said that
    vaccination remains the main form of protection. After being on an upward trend
    for a couple of weeks, the country’s vaccine rollout has slowed down of late.
    Since Romania’s vaccine rollout kicked off in late December last year, the
    number of Romanians fully vaccinated has reached nearly 6.5 million. The man in
    charge of the country’s vaccine rollout, physician Valeriu Gheorghita, urged
    people to not let themselves be fooled by individuals who came out of nowhere and
    are spreading fake news underlining the most effective way in the fight against
    the pandemic remains vaccination. Gheorghita participated in an online Q&A
    marathon together with other doctors and experts.








    SCHOOL Roughly 1,800,000 students and preschoolers are to commence
    courses on Monday, less than two thirds out of the total number, after a
    two-week holidays. The rest are to resume online courses, under a joint
    decision by the Ministries of Education and Health in Romania, which provides
    that students can resume courses in person only in those schools with at least
    60% of their teaching staff vaccinated. The Students Council believes the
    measure is not enough for the safe resumption of physical schooling though and
    has called on the medical authorities to develop an algorithm upon which
    schools may decide the format of courses they provide considering other factors
    besides the staff vaccination, like the local infection rate, test capabilities
    in certain regions and the conditions for keeping social distancing and
    implementing prevention measures. Education Minister Sorin Campeanu has
    announced the purchase and the future distribution to schools of 9 million
    tests. 30% of the students over 12 have so far been vaccinated.










    TALKS Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu is going to have a
    round of talks with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on
    Monday during the visit he is paying to the USA over November 8th
    and 9th upon the invitation of his US counterpart. The visit marks
    the official opening of the 7th meeting part of the US-Romania
    strategic dialogue for the 21st century. The Talks between the two
    officials are to be focusing on identifying concrete ways of developing and
    deepening bilateral cooperation in several fields such as politics, security,
    military, energy and economic cooperation.






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  • Fake Vaccination, a dangerous practice

    Fake Vaccination, a dangerous practice

    It seems that some people’s ingenuity
    when it comes to fraud and corruption knows no bounds in Romania. The latest
    scheme seems to be the fictitious immunization, which enables the
    vaccine-skeptics to do away with the also fictitious danger posed by
    vaccination. Although one’s refusal to get the jab, based on some conspiracy
    theories, is hard to understand, fake immunization, which gives the benefit of
    enjoying the advantages offered by the vaccination card in spite of being
    exposed to the real danger of infection, borders on pathological crime.




    According to police sources 400
    people, including medical personnel, are currently under investigation for
    involvement in fake vaccination schemes. They would have allegedly issued or
    received fake Covid-19 vaccine certificates. In one of Romania’s southern
    regions, a physician has been accused of having already issued such
    certificates to ten people who haven’t been given a jab yet.




    According to Interior Minister Lucian
    Bode, criminal proceedings have been filed in 200 cases involving these fake
    certificates. The Romanian minister has said that several police operations
    aimed at limiting as much as possible this phenomenon are currently underway. The
    man in charge of Romania’s vaccine rollout, physician Valeriu Gheorghita, has
    cautioned that those who buy these certificates are in danger of getting
    infected and even of dying. Gheorghita urges those who receive requests in this
    respect to announce the institutions in charge.


    Valeriu Gheorghiţă: The medical personnel are clearly rejecting such practices. And I make an
    appeal to the medical staff getting such requests to make them public so that
    the institutions in charge may take immediate action.




    Fictitious anti-COVID vaccination, namely
    the practice of issuing a fake certificate to someone who didn’t get the jab,
    must be sanctioned severely’, Gheorghita went on to say adding that the medical
    personnel involved in such activities must leave the system.




    Valeriu Gheorghiţă: I don’t see what credibility the
    medical personnel involved in such practices can have; suchlike practices are actually
    tarnishing the image of the medical personnel. As we can see the medical system
    doesn’t have much credibility with the people as it is, but these practices
    will be certainly validating the people’s lack of trust in the country’s medical
    system. And I believe this is something we must not accept and people like
    these must leave the medical system right away.




    Furthermore, 97% of last week’s
    Covid-related fatalities were people who didn’t get the jab. With little more
    than a quarter of its population vaccinated, Romania is lagging behind almost
    all the other EU countries, which have around 70% of their population immunized.
    And because the low domestic demand, Romania exported large quantities of
    anti-Covid vaccines.


    (bill)

  • A first survey over vaccine effectiveness in Romania

    A first survey over vaccine effectiveness in Romania

    The Covid-19 pandemic continues to
    create problems worldwide. According to WHO, the world runs the risk of losing its
    fight against the Coronavirus. Due to the new variants and other factors, many
    countries are in for new outbreaks. The virus continues to spread against the
    background of eased travel and gathering restrictions of not complying with
    safety measures and the unfair access to vaccines. Authorities say that
    vaccination remains the best solution to containing the virus in Romania.

    Physician Valeriu Gheorghita, coordinator of the country’s vaccine rollout, has
    presented a first preliminary survey on the effectiveness of anti-Covid-19
    vaccination. According to data released, vaccinated people benefit from
    increased protection and their chances to develop a severe form of the disease
    are considerably lower. Furthermore, a single dose proves to have an
    effectiveness of 67%, which may increase to 92% in the case of those fully
    vaccinated, enabling them to avoid hospitalization.

    The aforementioned survey
    shows that the risk for fully vaccinated individuals to be admitted to
    hospitals is 12 times lower. Besides, immunization reduces 14 times the risk of
    being killed by the virus, with an effectiveness of 93% in the case of fully
    vaccinated people. The survey was carried on four months, from February until
    the end of May. And data released by other countries shows a vaccine
    effectiveness over 90% even in the case of the Delta variant when it comes to
    preventing hospitalization, severe cases and fatalities, Valeriu Gheorghita
    went on to say.

    According to France Press, half of the EU population had been fully
    vaccinated against Covid-19 by early August. Out of the 27 member states, 13
    had already exceeded the 50% threshold, after the model of the four most
    populous countries in the bloc: Spain (58%), Italy (54%), France (53%) and
    Germany (52%). The countries with the largest number of fully vaccinated people
    were Malta (74%) and Belgium (59%). At the other end of the ranking is Bulgaria
    with 14%, which is surpassed only by Romania where only a little over 5 million
    of its people have been fully vaccinated.

    Only four types of anti-Covid vaccine
    have so far been approved by the European Union: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna,
    AstraZeneca-Oxford and Johnson&Johnson. Hungary and Slovakia have been
    using vaccines made in Russia and China, which aren’t approved by the European
    Medicines Agency though.




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  • A quarter of Romania’s population vaccinated

    A quarter of Romania’s population vaccinated

    Over 4 million
    people in Romania have received at least one dose of the anti-Covid vaccine,
    which accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s eligible population, of
    16 years of age and above. Out of these over 19% have got the booster dose,
    while 6% only the first jab, according to data the national vaccination
    platform posted on its Facebook page on Thursday. 12 million people with ages between 40-49,
    who are making the majority, and between 16 and 19 are still to be immunized.




    Capital city
    Bucharest with 36% and Cluj in north-western Romania, with 33% are topping the
    table with the largest number of people vaccinated with at least one dose. Next
    come the counties of Sibiu and Brasov, in central Romania, and also Timis in
    the west.

    The regions
    at the bottom of the ranking are Giurgiu in the south, Botosani in the
    north-east and Suceava in the north, the last with less than 12% people
    vaccinated.

    The vaccine
    rollout continues at a pace of roughly 100 thousand people vaccinated a day,
    being stepped up of late by novel vaccination methods. Authorities have
    scrapped the planned lists on the national vaccination platform allowing the
    Romanians to get the jab only by producing an ID. Drive throughs and the
    so-called vaccination marathons have largely contributed to the successful
    vaccine rollout. Mobile units have been dispatched to remote areas and
    vaccination points have been opened on the premises of major enterprises around
    the country.




    Family
    physicians have also joined the vaccination efforts making available the
    vaccine to their patients. According to Romania’s Minister of Labour and Social
    Protection, Raluca Turcan who has visited several rural regions, people in the
    countryside, mainly those in the vulnerable categories, have not been
    vaccinated yet although they want to.


    According to the
    minister, mobile units would be a solution to this issue particularly for those
    who cannot afford the transport to a remote vaccination center.


    ‘At present
    the best investment is vaccination and the state allots all the necessary
    resources so that everybody may benefit this facility’, presidential adviser
    Cosmin Marinescu said on Thursday.




    According to
    the Romanian official, it is important to understand that vaccination is the
    key to the resumption of all activities so that the economy may recover and we
    all return to normality. In another development, the government is to kick off
    a new information campaign on vaccination, which comprises three videos and an
    audio advertisement.




    ‘We are
    targeting those who are still reluctant, those who are concerned about the idea
    of vaccination, who need more arguments, besides those medical or scientific,’
    says the president of the National Committee for the coordination of Romania’s
    vaccine rollout, Valeriu Gheorghita.







    (bill)

  • Romania continues to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine without restrictions

    Romania continues to administer the AstraZeneca vaccine without restrictions

    A sluggish vaccine rollout or giving
    up vaccination altogether can make both us and those around to face some severe
    forms of infection. Furthermore, they can undermine that community immunity we are
    struggling to achieve in order to contain and do away with the toxic effects of
    the present pandemic.




    The statement was made by military
    physician Valeriu Gheorghita, in charge of Romania’s vaccine rollout at the end
    of a working meeting upon which the authorities decided to carry on the
    national vaccination programme by using the vaccine produced by Swedish-British
    group AstraZeneca. The vaccine has sparked off heated debates across Europe after
    the discovery of rare cases of blood clots in some patients. The Romanian
    authorities’ decision was influenced by the major risk posed by the Covid-19
    infection.




    Valeriu Gheorghiţă: As the European Medicines Agency
    and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control put it, the COVID-19
    infection is associated with a significant risk of hospitalization and death,
    including through thrombosis. On the other hand, the blood clots that appeared
    in some patients post-vaccination are an extremely rare phenomenon and the
    overall benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. As a conclusion, against
    the present epidemiological background in Romania, it is important that vaccine
    rollout be carried on with all the doses available and at higher parameters. It is very important that a higher percentage
    of the population get immunized as soon as possible in order to curb the negative
    effects of this pandemic.


    Physician Valeriu Gheorghiţă has
    given assurances the authorities in the field and medical experts in Romania
    are permanently monitoring with responsibility and care all the available
    scientific data over the safety and efficiency of the AstraZeneca vaccine and the
    other vaccines authorized. According to Gheorghita, drug safety mechanisms across
    Europe are fully operational and we must have confidence that experts with the
    European Medicines Agency are closely monitoring all the side effects reported.




    Asked about the ECHR announcement
    that compulsory vaccination may be necessary in democratic societies,
    Gheorghita denied that the Romanian authorities have considered this aspect
    adding that in Romania, vaccination is free, voluntary and done with vaccines
    authorized by the European Medicines Agency.


    (bill)

  • New measures to step up vaccination

    New measures to step up vaccination

    According
    to experts, anti-COVID vaccination is an effective and rapid measure to protect
    against the virus. The immunization campaign, which kicked off in Romania in
    late December is in full swing and authorities have announced fresh measures to
    step it up. According to physician Valeriu Gheorghiţă, in charge of vaccine
    rollout in Romania, starting April 20th mobile centers are to become
    part of this immunization campaign.




    20
    such mobile units are to be made available all over Romania in a first stage of
    this programme. These centers are to be coordinated by the County Committee in
    charge of Military Hospitals as they are operated by personnel provided by the
    National Defence Ministry. These centers are to become operational in rural areas
    where people do not have access to immunization centers or family physicians.




    And in
    order to streamline the process, the aforementioned centers will mainly use the
    single-jab Johnson&Johnson vaccine. Authorities in Romania have decided to
    also include the family physicians in the immunization campaign. Gheorghita has
    announced that over 3 thousand family physicians have applied for being part of
    the campaign with the medical facilities they own.




    They
    account for 30% of the total 10,940 doctors under contract with the National
    Health Insurance House. It is less than we expected, Valeriu Gheorghita said
    adding that the project is to kick off nationwide on May 4th. Until
    that time, we will have provided all the training for the physicians involved
    in the project and have assured all the infrastructure needed in the
    distribution of medical supplies so that we may commence this project in very
    good conditions. People’s interest in getting the vaccine is high, Gheorghita says
    adding that a decision has been made to notify only once a person on the
    vaccination list, who has 24 hours to confirm.






    Roughly
    780 thousand people have enlisted for vaccination, most of them in Bucharest
    and Cluj in the north west. About 60% of these belong to the general
    population, included in the third stage of the vaccination campaign, 32% are
    people belonging to the vulnerable groups, people with chronic conditions,
    people over 65, with physical disabilities and 7.5% people working in key
    domains of activity. Over 2,100,000 people in Romania have so far got at least
    one vaccine dose.


    (bill)

  • Accélérer la vaccination. Mais comment ?

    Accélérer la vaccination. Mais comment ?

    De lavis des spécialistes, la vaccination contre la Covid est une méthode efficace et rapide de se protéger contre le virus. En Roumanie, la campagne dimmunisation qui a démarré à la fin décembre est en plein déroulement et les autorités ont annoncé de nouvelles mesures visant à laccélérer.



    Le coordinateur de la campagne, le médecin Valeriu Gheorghita, a déclaré que le 20 avril prochain, une vingtaine de centres mobiles devraient commencer à fonctionner à travers le pays. Ils seront coordonnés par des Comités départementaux en coopération avec les hôpitaux militaires puisque le personnel médical sera fourni par le ministère de la Défense. Ces centres devraient desservir la population rurale, qui na pas accès actuellement à des centres dimmunisation classiques, ni à des médecins traitants. Le vaccin privilégié sera celui produit par Johnson&Johnson afin de simplifier le processus dimmunisation, vu que ce type de vaccin est administré en une seule dose.



    Les autorités de Bucarest ont décidé de coopter aussi les médecins traitants afin daccélérer la campagne dimmunisation. Valeriu Gheorghita a annoncé que plus de 3 mille omnipraticiens avaient choisi de participer à la campagne de vaccination dans leurs propres cabinets médicaux, ce qui constitue 30 % sur un total de 10 940 médecins qui ont des relations contractuelles avec la Caisse nationale dassurance maladie. Cest bien moins que lon ne sattendait, a affirmé Valeriu Gheorghita, qui a précisé que les autorités envisageaient de lancer ce processus au niveau national le 4 mai. « Dici là, nous allons assurer la formation de tous les médecins de famille qui sont inclus dans ce projet. Nous allons mettre en place toute linfrastructure liée à la distribution des doses, à la distribution du matériel sanitaire, afin de pouvoir lancer cette opération dans les meilleures des conditions », a également dit le coordinateur de la campagne dimmunisation.



    Lintérêt de la population de prendre rendez-vous afin de se faire vacciner demeure élevé, a mentionné Valeriu Gheorghita, qui a annoncé que la décision avait été adoptée de notifier une seule fois une personne figurant sur la liste dattente, qui disposera de 24 heures pour confirmer le rendez-vous en question.



    A présent, quelque 780 mille personnes sont inscrites sur les listes dattente en vue de se faire vacciner, dont la majorité à Bucarest et à Cluj. Quelque 60 % sont des personnes appartenant à la catégorie appelée « population générale », donc éligibles pour être vaccinées dans la troisième étape de la campagne nationale, 32 % sont des personnes appartenant aux catégories vulnérables, malades chroniques et personnes âgées de plus de 65 ans ou en situation de handicap. Enfin, quelque 7,5 % des personnes figurant sur les listes dattente sont des travailleurs essentiels. Jusquici, plus de 2 millions 100 mille personnes ont reçu au moins une dose de vaccin.

  • Vaccination and Prevention

    Vaccination and Prevention

    Romania
    ranks 7th in a world ranking of anti-Covid vaccination with both doses administered
    reads the Facebook page of the National Immunization platform on February 26th,
    two months into the campaign. This is an honourable place for the skeptics
    ready to spot out the Romanians’ failures in terms of organisation. Still in
    its second stage, which includes the elderly, those with chronic conditions and
    the employees of the key institutions, the campaign is expected to enter its
    third stage, which involves the entire population.




    People
    in this category can enlist for immunization on an online platform after March
    15th and their vaccination can begin most likely in April, military
    physician Valeriu Gheorghita, coordinator of the national immunization campaign,
    announced on Sunday. The activation of this list hinged on rendering all the
    750 centeres in Romania involved with the immunization campaign, operational.




    On Monday Romania is to return to the
    minimum of 30 thousand daily vaccinations and according to dr. Gheorghita,
    there are days in which the number of those vaccinated will exceed 40 thousand.
    Gheorghita went on to say that the percentage of 50% vaccinated population is
    to be reached in June and July. In September, Romania could hit the threshold
    of 60-70% collective immunization accounting for 10 million people.




    However, vaccination does not exclude
    prevention and caution, as Romania is in its third pandemic wave, according to dr.
    Virgil Mustata from the Victor Babes hospital of infectious diseases in
    Timisoara, western Romania. He insists on three protection measures, mask
    wearing, disinfection and keeping social distancing.




    Virgil Mustata: We have seen in the past two weeks a rising
    number of infections and our hospital is facing an enormous pressure being half
    occupied. Support hospitals are also reporting a big number of patients. The
    only method to prevent this third wave is to not put more pressure on the
    healthcare system and prevention is the right measure in this respect. And now
    I would like to remind these three rules that we need to observe until we
    notice a significant drop in the number of infections and are keeping the
    pandemic under control: mask wearing, hand hygiene and disinfection as well as
    social distancing. These three are very important.




    Physician Virgil Musta is
    recommending the people in the risk categories to get immunized a.s.a.p because
    most of those admitted to hospitals with Covid infections are old people who
    have other conditions.




    (bill)

  • Priorities have changed in Romania’s vaccination campaign

    Priorities have changed in Romania’s vaccination campaign

    The government
    in Bucharest is changing its strategy with the anti-Covid vaccination campaign.
    The elderly and those with chronic conditions have been given priority over
    other categories of people. The
    vaccination platform allowing Romanians to schedule the date of their immunization
    will be earmarking three quarters of its available places to the elderly and
    people with chronic conditions and only one quarter to those working in
    Romania’s key sectors of activity.




    Besides people above
    65, those with chronic conditions and employees in Romania’s key sectors of
    activity, priority has also been given to ship crews on various sea and river
    routes, members of diplomatic missions, athletes participating in various
    international competitions, shop assistants in food chains, farmers and local
    administration employees.


    Last but not
    least, the handicapped had been added to the priority list, as well as those
    with low immunity and the homeless.




    Heads of
    ministries, state-owned companies, the National Bank, the Ombudsman or the
    Constitutional Court must provide a list with the key employees, the only ones
    with the right to get immunized in this stage. Romania’s Education Minister Sorin
    Cîmpeanu has announced that 126 thousand employees who might get in direct
    contact with the students will be prioritized for immunization until February 8th,
    when the second school semester is due to kick off.




    According to the
    Romanian official, the number of teachers applying for immunization has
    increased. An IRES survey shows that the Romanians’ perception of the
    anti-Covid vaccine has improved, as 4 out of 10 Romanians say they will get the
    vaccine and only 1 out of 5 has decided otherwise.


    Authorities say
    that at this moment, the demand for immunization is higher than the available
    vaccine doses, but new supplies are expected in the following period so that
    everybody can get the vaccine in the future.




    Army doctor Valeriu
    Gheorghiță, coordinator of the national vaccination campaign has told a TV
    station that we have enough doses of vaccine for now, but the first half of
    February will be complicated. According to official data, roughly 500 thousand
    people have been scheduled for immunization until February 8th plus
    those scheduled for a second booster vaccination. According to Gheorghita, the
    number of doses available will be much higher in April.






    However, the US
    pharmaceutical group Pfizer has halved the quantity of anti-Covid vaccine to be
    delivered to some EU countries this week and Romania will get only 50% of the
    quantity decided. The situation is going to improve gradually and is expected
    to normalize in late March, the Romanian authorities have also announced.




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