HealthMin Voiculescu, after start of vaccination campaign: Moment is hopeful

Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu declared on Sunday, after the start of the vaccination campaign against the new coronavirus, that this moment is a "hopeful" one, but he pointed out that we must continue to be careful in the next six months.

Vlad Voiculescu witnessed on Sunday the vaccination of the first person in Romania, Mihaela Anghel, a nurse from the Matei Bals Institute in the Capital.

"The moment is important, it is one of hope and it is one that should show us that we can defeat this virus. But we must continue to be cautious for the next six months. Hospital staff will continue to be at the forefront and will have to. It is essential that we continue to be careful," Voiculescu said.

Asked if the population was informed about possible side effects after the vaccine, Vlad Voiculescu said: "It must be said that in each center there is a separate room with everything needed to intervene. For any pharmaceutical product there is this theoretical possibility but there is in every center what is needed to prevent any aggravation of any side effects. Today, vaccination begins in 10 hospitals. The process is relatively simple, the rooms are almost the same everywhere, the facilities are the same, the staff is trained. It is a simple vaccine (...) At the moment we are within schedule. We have all the centers ready, we have all the logistics ready (...) There is no delay at this moment".

The anti-COVID vaccination campaign started on Sunday, targeting, in the first phase, the medical staff from all 10 infectious disease hospitals in the front line in the fight against the new coronavirus.

The first 10,000 doses of COVID vaccine entered Romania on Friday and on Saturday they arrived at the main storage center - the "Cantacuzino" Institute in Bucharest, from where they were distributed in the country.

AGERPRES