Banned from public meetings and the butt of jokes, Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan on Thursday confirmed he has been vaccinated against Covid-19.
Mayor Nicușor Dan told Dig24 on Thursday that he had had his first shot. His comments became a news alert in Romania.
The confirmation came after criticism that the mayor of Romania’s biggest city which has had the most coronavirus cases and deaths, initially left his vaccine status unclear.
Although not an anti-vaxxer, there were suspicions that the 51-year-old mayor hadn’t been vaccinated.
Romania has the second-lowest vaccine rate in the European Union, with just 40% of people vaccinated.
In Bucharest, more than 65% of people have had an anti Covid-19 shot which put the centrist mayor in a weak political position.
On August 31, he confirmed he hadn’t been immunized because he had had the virus.
As restrictions were introduced in late autumn banning unvaccinated people from entering many public buildings, the mayor was ridiculed after he was unable to attend some meetings.
Reports said he was not allowed to enter the government offices to discuss heating problems in early November as he hadn’t had a jab.
He tried to manage the situation, saying he’d had the virus and was waiting for his doctor to recommend he had a jab.
On Thursday, reporters asked him whether he’d been vaccinated, he said: “Yes, the first shot!”The news wasn’t entirely unexpected as he’d told reporters at the end of last month he’d get a jab.
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