COVID-19: 1 mln people vaccinated with at least one dose in Bucharest

More than 1 million people in Bucharest have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, prefect Alin Stoica said on Thursday, May 13, Hotnews.ro reported. He made the statement after the meeting of the Municipal Committee for Emergency Situations.

The USR-PLUS Alliance also announced that the Romanian capital reached the threshold of 1 million vaccinated citizens. The party said that “every Bucharest resident who understood that vaccination is the only solution to return to normalcy” contributed to this result, and urged people to continue “to be careful, respect the protection measures, and get vaccinated.”

“The fact that the infection rate has dropped is the first and most important sign that all the efforts of the last year have paid off, but they must be maintained,” USR PLUS said on Facebook.

In related news, education minister Sorin Cimpeanu said that, according to figures from the online platform, 44% of the education staff had been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far.

“At least 155,000 employees [e.n. vaccinated in the education sector], which represents over 44% of all employees. In the case of teachers, the share is over 50%,” Cimpeanu said, according to News.ro. “It’s difficult to count those who have been vaccinated because the questions referring to the workplace of those registering on the platform were eliminated. There are 155,000, plus all education staff who have been vaccinated in special centers, such as the vaccination marathon or drive-thru centers. The share goes towards 60%, but it's only an estimation. Again, there are 155,000 employees from the education sector declared on the platform, of which over 145,000 are vaccinated with both doses," he added.

According to the official daily report, almost 3.79 million people received a COVID-19 vaccine in Romania by May 13, and nearly 2.62 million of them got both doses. The authorities aim to reach 5 million vaccinated people by June 1.

Amid a significant drop in the number of new COVID-19 cases, president Klaus Iohannis announced a series of significant relaxation measures for the coming period. From May 15, for example, people will no longer be obliged to wear masks in outdoor public places, the night curfew will end, and the stores will return to their regular opening hours.