Romania’s government will donate another 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to Ukraine and Moldova, the prime minister said.
Premier Florin Citu said “a draft decision (was approved) to donate another 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the Republic of Moldova, as well as prepared the details to provide 100,000 doses of the vaccine to Ukraine.”
Earlier, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that Romania separately plans to sell another 200,000 doses of the vaccine to Moldova.
The prime minister said Romania could only sell the vaccine to Moldova, which isn’t a member of the European Union, with the agreement of Brussels which will also set the price.
The news was welcomed by Moldova which has been struggling to find vaccines for the poor former Soviet republic.
„Good news for Moldovans! Romania is offering us a generous donation of 100,00 vaccine does,” Maia Sandu wrote on Facebook. “We are deeply grateful to Romania for its endless solidarity.”
Ukraine, which is also not a EU member, has already received almost 400,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in South Korea under the COVAX facility.
It also received 117,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine as part of the COVAX scheme in April, Ukrinfrom reported.
The global COVAX scheme supplies Covid vaccines to poorer countries, including Moldova and Ukraine.
In December, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis pledged Moldova 200,000 vaccine doses from its quota allotted by the European Union during a visit to Chisinau meant to support Maia Sandu, who’d recently been elected president.
