Romania-coronavirus: WHO calls on Romanians to be vaccinated |

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The World Health Organization today urged Romanians to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to prevent a new overcrowding of hospitals, even if the fourth wave of the pandemic begins to subside.

“We are seeing a decrease (in the number) of new cases, but we have to see if this trend will continue,” Heather Papovic, a crisis management expert with a WHO mission to Romania, told AFP.

“People need to be vaccinated to prevent a recurrence of the dramatic situation” observed in late October, when the country recorded about 20,000 new infections a day.

Romania peaked the death toll on November 2, 591 in a 24-hour period, to a total of 2,332 deaths in the last seven days.

With just one-third of its population of 19 million having had both doses of the vaccine, the country has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the European Union.

Restrictions imposed in late October, such as a curfew and a sanitary pass to enter the cinema or restaurant, appear to have slowed the spread of the virus, although experts remain cautious.

“We need to identify the obstacles that block vaccination, to have a dialogue with people, to answer their questions, because many of them are worried,” Papovic added, saying she was in favor of a “voluntary” vaccination.

The WHO official denounced the flood of false information that she said contributed, along with the easing of restrictions last summer and the rapid spread of the Delta variant, to the contagious capacity of the fourth wave, which “seems to have taken everyone by surprise”. .

“We must all take our responsibilities to stop this wave and avoid another,” he said.

Papovic stressed that it is up to the government to decide whether or not to introduce a health pass at work, clarifying that the WHO is ready to provide technical assistance in this matter.

The bill, which was introduced in parliament two weeks ago, boosted the vaccination campaign, with nearly 500,000 people taking the first dose in a matter of days.

MEPs are expected to decide on the bill next week.

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