Romania lags behind in EU virus vaccinations

Coronavirus patients were filling up Romanian intensive care units in late September, as vaccination rates in the country lagged badly behind the European Union average – at just a third of adults fully jabbed. Around 72% of adults in the European Union have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but in some eastern EU countries a stubbornly low uptake of the shots now risks overwhelming hospitals amid a vicious surge of infections due to the fast spreading delta variant.

Romania and Bulgaria are lagging badly behind as the EU's two least-vaccinated nations, with just 33% and 22% of their adult populations fully inoculated against COVID-19, respectively, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions. France, Spain, and Portugal, which have all exceeded 80% coverage, and COVID-19 restrictions are being eased.

Stella Kyriakides, the EU's health commissioner, said last month that the "worrying gap" needs "urgently addressing." But jab uptake has remained weak in many of the bloc's eastern countries. Slovakia, Croatia, and Latvia have vaccinated around just 50% of all adults.

The Marius Nasta Institute's intensive care unit chief Cadar Genoveva said beds were at "100% capacity" and that 98% of their patients were unvaccinated. Government data in Romania shows that 91.5% of registered COVID-19 deaths between Sept. 18-23 were in people who had not been jabbed.

Of 1,239 ICU beds nationally, 1,220 are now occupied. Public health specialist Vlad Mixich said a historic distrust in politicians had contributed to the situation. "During the vaccination campaign, unfortunately, politicians were the main communication vectors," he said. Mixich added that the frequent changing of health ministers had had a "massive" impact on the campaign to inoculate the nation.

The vice-president of Romania's national vaccination committee said fake news had been a key factor in dissuading people from getting jabbed. He said there was a team of government specialists trying to combat the spread of fake news but they were up against a "massive machinery" online.

Back at the Marius Nasta Institute, some still weren't convinced to get inoculated despite being hospitalized with the virus. "I don't know if I made the right or wrong decision, probably the wrong one," said Marin Elena. "But still I don't intend to get the vaccine because we protect ourselves very much."