Romania to start destroying expired COVID-19 vaccines as vaccination numbers drop

Romania could start destroying some of the COVID-19 vaccines received earlier this year as they are set to expire while the population's interest in vaccination has dropped significantly.

After a strong start of the vaccination campaign, Romania has seen a slowdown over the last two months and is now among the last in the EU in terms of vaccination rates. While people living in the big cities were more willing to get vaccinated, almost half of Romania's population is living in rural areas, where interest in vaccination is very low.

As a result, Romania now holds a surplus of vaccines and will start to destroy some of the unused doses received earlier this year as they will expire soon. About a week ago, the authorities asked the suppliers to send fewer COVID-19 vaccines than planned for the same reason.

Doctor Valeriu Gheorghita, the coordinator of the national vaccination campaign, said on Thursday, June 24, that Romania would destroy 35,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine due to expire on June 30, Digi24 reported.

A few days before, Gheorghita had told Digi24 that Romania would try to redistribute or sell the vaccine doses that were about to expire.

Also as a result of the Romanians' reduced interest in vaccination, dozens of vaccination centres have shut down while others have reduced their program to a few hours a day or a few days a week. The medical teams working at these centres are set to join the program aimed at boosting access to COVID-19 vaccines in rural areas.

"According to data centralized the day before […], 45 vaccination centres have temporarily suspended activity, another 136 vaccination points have temporarily suspended activity in the centres that are still active - these centres had several vaccination points, and their number has been practically reduced to allow the detachment of mobile teams that will ensure vaccination in rural areas-, and 314 vaccination centres have reduced their working hours from 12 hours to 6 hours, or even 4 hours," Valeriu Gheorghita said on June 24, according to News.ro.

According to Gheorghita, more than 62,300 people have been vaccinated within the "The city vaccinates the village" program. This action, together with the authorities' initiative to condition access to some events only for vaccinated people, is aimed at reviving the vaccination campaign and accelerating the vaccination rates. However, these measures are yet to show their results.