What Romania needs to be prepared for the COVID vaccine

Pharmaceutical companies around the world are embarking on a race against time to find a vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the current pandemic. Representatives from the World Health Organization said they expected to get a serum and even two billion doses of the COVID vaccine by the end of next year. So far, 156 countries have joined the COVAX mechanism for the correct purchase and distribution of vaccines. For now, however, we can only talk about possible vaccines.

“Pre-contracts are signed for possible vaccines, and a vaccine of this type that has already been contracted in advance will be and will be authorized, certainly the EU countries will receive a part of that amount that has been reserved by the European Commission, who also paid considerable sums of money up front. This is what the EC managed to do for the member states, and fortunately we are members of the Union and then we could have a vaccine available maybe a little faster, in the first half of next year. ” the professor explained. Alexandru Rafila, President of the Romanian Society for Microbiology, at Digi 24 Romania. The first to be immunized are vulnerable people and medical personnel.

The infrastructure is missing

The university expressed concern that we will not be organized enough to vaccinate the population when such a vaccine is discovered: “I am very concerned, seeing how we are moving in the organizational area, that this vaccine is available,” said the Commission. The European has done his job, Romania will be able to receive the vaccine and the organization for the administration of the vaccine I don’t know if it will be ready. I think this should start from now on, so that if this vaccine is available, it can be administered in a short time to a large number of people, “said the doctor.

In his opinion, starting tomorrow we should worry about the organization, the logistics, the vaccination centers, who will administer the vaccine. “Map all the vulnerable groups, in order to be vaccinated,” Rafila added.

Rafila explained that vaccines must be transported under special conditions, at minus 70-80 degrees, and there is no country, including Romania, that has a storage capacity at that temperature. They will be delivered in containers that contain carbon dioxide and that must go directly to the vaccination centers, where they can remain refrigerated for several days, added the academic.

“I think we should start organizing a vaccination campaign very quickly, with people in charge, vaccination centers, intermediate warehouses, if necessary, but things are very complex and I think it requires the collaboration of several institutions, not just the Ministry of Health. . Of course, the Ministry of Health should also be upset, but probably help from the Ministry of National Defense will be essential for the success of this campaign, ”added Rafila.

Syncope along the “cold chain”

Public health expert Dr. Sorin Paveliu agrees that there are no refrigerators at Unifarm to keep the vaccine below -50 degrees. He also highlighted that Romania does not have any specialized transport capacity, which could be provided by private companies, under the conditions of organizing tenders.

Later in the “cold chain”, the county Public Health Directorates would need another very robust infrastructure capable of storing and subsequently transporting the serum to family physicians. The route would be similar to the flu shot, for example, but the conditions could be completely different.