Activity halted at 11 COVID-19 vaccination centres, hours cut at 127

Chairman of Romania's National COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV) Valeriu Gheorghita said on Tuesday that activity at 11 immunisation centres will be temporarily halted, the open hours at 127 more will be cut and 70 vaccination rooms were closed because in about 45% of the cases the centres were used at less than half capacity. He told a news conference that the evaluation of the efficiency of the vaccination centres had been completed a week before. According to him, a definitive closure of the vaccination centres is not wanted because it is very difficult to predict the COVID-19 epidemiological developments in the coming months, and they must be prepared to be reactivated as needed. The CNCAV chairman added that in recent weeks there has been a progressive reduction in the number of people vaccinated against COVID. "It is very important to have a balance between the amount of vaccines delivered to Romania and the consumption of vaccines. As we know, there has been a progressive reduction in recent weeks in the number of people vaccinated at least with one dose I, but deliveries kept coming according to the proposed schedule with a significant number of doses, so at this time we have a percentage of about 60% utilisation rate of the vaccines received by Romania out of almost 15 million doses. As such, it is important to avoid exceeding the expiration date of the vaccine while still having a significant number of doses that can be stored in the long run, as long as their shelf life allows, so that we can react, on the one hand, to the new wave of cases if it is to happen in Romania as well, and, on the other hand, to further ensure the smooth running of the vaccination campaign," he said. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)