Prospects of COVID-19 Vaccination in Romania: Challenges and Potential Solutions

Abstract

The rapid advancement in vaccine development represents a critical milestone that will help humanity tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the success of these efforts is not guaranteed, as it relies on the outcomes of national and international vaccination strategies. In this article, we highlight some of the challenges that Romania will face and propose a set of solutions to overcome them. With this in mind, we discuss issues such as the infrastructure of vaccine storage and delivery, the deployment and administration of immunisations, and the public acceptance of vaccines. The ways in which Romanian society will respond to a national COVID-19 vaccination campaign will be contingent on appropriate and timely actions. As many of the problems encountered in Romania are not unique, the proposed recommendations could be adapted and implemented in other countries that face similar issues, thereby informing better practices in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pharmacist's Perspectives on Administering a COVID-19 Vaccine in Community Pharmacies in Four Balkan Countries

“…Since the emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) global pandemic, more than 4 million deaths have been confirmed worldwide and 1.2 million deaths have been declared by WHO in Europe in the last year due to the pandemic (31), requesting coordination between existing health services to faster vaccinate the population in large scale (32)(33)(34)(35). European Medicines Agency (EMA) and various national regulatory authorities have approved the clinical use of some vaccines following preclinical trials with promising results on decreasing hospitalization and COVID-19 mortality rates (32,33,36).…”

Engaging Religious Institutions and Faith-Based Communities in Public Health Initiatives: A Case Study of the Romanian Orthodox Church During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The contribution of the ROC to the management of the pandemic was not limited to endorsing and abiding by the official public health guidelines. Like other religious institutions worldwide, the ROC was involved in substantial charitable and philanthropic activities ( 27 ). In just 1 month after the first COVID-19 infections were detected in Romania, the ROC spent over one million USD in donations in order to help manage the impact of the pandemic ( 28 ).…”

“…Thus, there was an urgent need for issues concerning vaccine acceptance and misinformation to be addressed, even before the national COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Indeed, state authorities were aware that support from the ROC would have greatly benefited the national immunization campaign ( 27 ).…”

“…Furthermore, for the first time, a broadcast dedicated entirely to immunization was aired on the television channel of the ROC, where religious concerns about vaccines were addressed with scientific arguments ( 33 ). Subsequently, religious leaders and clergy of the ROC from across the country issued statements in favor of the national immunization campaign ( 27 ). As such, people were urged to trust the public health authorities and to use verified sources of information to answer questions about vaccination.…”

The Third Booster Vaccination Dose Against COVID-19: Indications for Circulating SARS-CoV-2 Variants

“…Many vaccines have so far been produced and administered. However, equitable rollout of a rapid vaccination campaign requires implementation and assessment of procedures pertaining to mass production, storage, transport logistics, prioritization of target populations, indications of vaccine types, vaccine dosage and intervals between multiple doses [ 13 , 15 , 16 ].…”