Declic petition for the Minister of Health: “Bring anti-Covid vaccines to hospitals and pharmacies!”

The “Declic” community initiated a petition asking the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, to accelerate “the introduction of voluntary vaccination against the virus that causes the disease COVID-19”. HotNews reported on Friday that Romania is the only one that does not have this vaccine among the six European countries in which it has documented the COVID-19 situation.

In the Declic petition, a HotNews material from October 16 is cited, in which the president of the Bucharest-Ilfov Family Physicians Association, Sandra Alexiu, warns that “for almost two months there have been extremely many illnesses”.

“We are in the middle of the cold season, a time when the immune system is weakened and viruses can easily set in. Specialists are sounding the alarm. In recent months, the number of cases of COVID-19 has increased extremely much. Last month alone, more than 18,000 people got sick. And we don't even know the real situation, because too few people choose to get tested,” writes the Declic petition, which until the time of drafting of the article gathered almost 2,500 signatures.

Declic is an online civic activism platform from Romania, made up of over one million citizens campaigning for a fairer society through petition campaigns, protest actions and calls to action.

According to the petition, the number of cases of COVID-19 “increased significantly” in other European countries as well.

“For example, in Austria the cases started to increase from the beginning of September. But other countries are also taking effective measures for people. The authorities in Vienna have started to offer free vaccine doses. The only option we have left is to go to neighboring countries, such as Bulgaria, where the vaccine is available. It is unacceptable, however, not to be able to get vaccinated, even for a fee in Romania”, it is also stated in petition.

The petition claims that the results of the negotiations announced by the Ministry of Health with the vaccine manufacturers are “delayed”.

“More than a month ago, the Ministry of Health announced that it is in advanced negotiations with the vaccine manufacturers. The purpose of the negotiations is to reintroduce vaccines in Romania for those who want to update their immunization against COVID-19. But the results are slow to appear. If the negotiations are prolonged, we will end up having vaccines after the winter is over,” the petition also reads.

Romania has not had a vaccine against COVID-19 for three years

Our country is the only one that no longer has an anti-COVID vaccine among the six European states in which HotNews documented the situation in an article published on Friday, October 24, in the PULSE project.

In Romania, no vaccine against COVID-19 has been available for three years. “Culmea, there is also demand, even if modest, maybe not at the level of other countries”, said the president of the Association of Family Doctors from Bucharest-Ilfov, in a dialogue with Hotnews.

Family doctor Sandra Alexiu also says that she has patients who take advantage of visits abroad to buy and administer the vaccine against COVID-19.

When asked by HotNews, the Ministry of Health said it is “in advanced discussions with vaccine manufacturers”, but they will not be offered free like in other European countries. In response, the institution also did not provide a time horizon.

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