Vaccines for COVID-19 are no longer needed by Romania

Romania and nine other Eastern European nations have approached the European Commission to renegotiate their vaccination contracts due to an excess of vaccines, expiration, and the inability to donate surplus doses. In Romania, just about 15% of the entire number of vaccinations ordered have been provided.

Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia sent letters to EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyraikides. According to Politico, they recommend that immunizations be reduced or abolished entirely if they are no longer necessary. During the epidemic, 4.2 billion doses were purchased, which is ten times the population of the European Union. In February 2022, there were 1.3 billion available.

The letter's authors allege that because the original purchase of vaccines was significantly more than the current requirement, a huge number of doses will be sent past their expiration dates, resulting in waste. The EU's ten eastern nations have the lowest immunization rates. Romania ranks second-to-last in the EU, with 42.3 percent of the population having completed the primary course (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one shot of Johnson & Johnson vaccine). 

The average in the EU is 72.3 percent. Despite accounting for more than half of the EU population, less than 10% of Romanians received the booster dose. Bulgaria is the EU's least vaccinated country, according to ECDC data, with barely 30 percent of the population protected. African countries face a logistical challenge in getting vaccines to where they are required, rather than a scarcity of doses. 

In response, the African Center for Disease Control has requested a donation freeze until the end of the year. According to Citu's data, former Prime Minister Florin Citu acquired anti-COVID vaccines in Romania in July 2021. According to the most recent data available on datelazi.ro, fewer than 17 million doses were administered.

Even though international health organizations have yet to provide a recommendation regarding the need for the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Romania has begun to distribute it.