Romanian president: If we get vaccinated, we will probably be able to beat the pandemic by summer

President Klaus Iohannis reiterated that the vaccination is voluntary in Romania and recommended the citizens to get vaccinated because "this is the only way to stop the pandemic."

"If we mobilize and get vaccinated, we will probably be able to beat the pandemic by summer," Iohannis also said after visiting the National COVID-19 Vaccine Storage Center set up at the Cantacuzino Institute in Bucharest on Friday, December 18.

The president explained that all the COVID-19 vaccines would be first stored in the center opened at the Cantacuzino Institute. From there, they will be distributed to other centers in the country.

The vaccination campaign will begin immediately after Christmas, once Romania receives the first symbolic batch of 10,000 doses, Klaus Iohannis also said. As of January, the country is to receive "at least" 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine every week. The medical staff will be the first to get the vaccine, followed by the essential staff in the second stage, and the general population in the third stage.

"Important to know - vaccination is voluntary, no one is obliged, but we recommend everyone to get vaccinated because this vaccination is the only - I repeat - the only way to beat the pandemic," Klaus Iohannis said.

"We will have different types of vaccine. All are very good, and all are authorized to the highest European standards. They are all effective; that is, they work. They are all safe. And, in this way, if we mobilize and get vaccinated, we will probably be able to beat the pandemic by summer," he added.

According to the National Coordinating Committee for COVID-19 Vaccination Activities (CNCAV), the first 10,000 vaccines that are estimated to arrive in Romania after Christmas will be sent to ten infectious disease hospitals in Bucharest, Brasov, Cluj, Constanta, Craiova, Iași, Suceava, Timișoara, and Baia Mare, Hotnews.ro reported.

In related news, the Romanian Orthodox Church said in a press release quoted by Mediafax that its "position was and remains favorable to vaccination, with the need to respect ethical principles: the consent of the individual, the clear description of the benefits and risks, and the assumption of responsibility in case of side effects."

Representatives of the Romanian Patriarchate also said that the COVID-19 vaccination campaign's success depends on the correct information of the population.