Romania is gearing up its Covid-19 vaccine rollout in a bid to encourage more people to get immunized.
Military hospitals in Romania will offer vaccines without appointments after the Easter holiday starting on Tuesday. It’s part of a one-week pilot project and the centers will be open 24 hours a day, officials said.
Online platform
„Starting next week….. we will try a one-week pilot project… so citizens can be vaccinated without booking an appointment on the online platform,” Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca told Digi24 on Thursday.
Eleven counties across Romania will offer the Covid-19 vaccine he said.
The latest initiative comes after authorities introduced mobile and drive-through vaccination centers or „vaccination marathons” in major cities in a bid to get more people inoculated.
Vaccine center
Bucharest opened a drive-through vaccine center in Bucharest outside the Parliament, known as the House of the People, built by the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu who razed homes and historical buildings to build the giant palace.
The Transylvanian cities of Cluj and Targu Mures and the Moldovan city of Iasi will also offer drive-in vaccine centers in mid-May.
Vaccinare.ro
Some 3.25 million people in Romania have received at least one shot by Thursday, about 17% of the population, graphs.ro reported.
The government set up online platform Vaccinare.ro in January which allows people to schedule appointments around Romania without being limited to their home area.
The online platform has been updated to allow users to book an appointment for the booster shot at a different location to their first jab.
Covid cases
Cases have fallen in the past two weeks following a period of restrictions in the worst-hit areas.
Romania posted 1,636 new Covid-19 cases on Friday and 138 deaths. It was the second day in a row when cases have dropped below 2,000.
Bucharest added 363 cases more than anywhere. However, it left the so ‘red zone’ after the the number of cases over a rolling 14-day period fell to 2.98 per 1,000 people.
Dozens of companies have started vaccinating their employees, Andrei Baciu, a vaccine rollout official said.
