One-Third of Romanians Would Refuse Covid-19 Vaccine: Survey

One out of three Romanians would refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19, according to an opinion survey conducted on May 13 and 14 by the Romanian Institute for Evaluation and Strategy, IRES, results of which were published by media on Turesday.

According to the survey, which questioned a sample of over 1,000 adults representative of Romanian society's composition, four out ten Romanians would accept a vaccine against Covid-19 once it has been tested and approved.

Meanwhile, 33 per cent of the respondents said that they would not get the vaccine under any circumstance.

The results of the survey come against the backdrop of the growing visibility of the anti-vaccine movement in the country.

As Romania's parliament in February finalised draft legislation that would make vaccination against flu, measles and other long-known infectious diseases mandatory, anti-vaccine groups picketed in Bucharest and other cities to denounce what they see as a health hazard and a state abuse of personal freedoms.

Despite being ready for a final vote, the vaccination legislation has not been voted on in parliament yet, which has raised concerns among medical experts that fear some MPs might backtrack and stop supporting mandatory vaccination because they might lose votes for doing so.

"Amid the pandemic, we realise how important it is that vaccines for infectious diseases exist and that we use them on time," doctor Alexandru Rafila of the Romanian Society of Microbiology told news channel Digi24 earlier this month.

Rafila warned against "lowering [one's] guard" against conventional and potentially lethal contagious diseases such as measles, diphtheria and tetanus while focusing on protection against the coronavirus.

He pleaded with the...