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The European Medicines Agency will decide on Monday to authorize the COVID-19 vaccine, eight days earlier than originally scheduled. Until then, however, Romania is taking steps to start the population-wide information campaign regarding immunization, taking into account the fact that 4 out of 10 Romanians are reluctant to vaccinate against the coronavirus. Doctors Adrian Marinescu and Marius Geantă said that they are concerned, on the one hand, that in the red zones there is a great movement of freedom caused by the preparation of the holidays, and, on the other, that in the big hospitals they end up being treated. COVID patients.
Adrian Marinescu, GP for infectious diseases at the Matei Balş Institute in the capital, told Digi24 on Thursday night that “if we look strictly at the total number of infections, we could say that there has been a decrease in recent days.” , but that in tomato areas, like Bucharest, they do not see a decrease: “We have more than 1,500 cases every day, it is the same pressure on hospitals.”
The doctor said it was “a fragile balance” and that there were variations from day to day. In this sense, he said that the number of tests should be constant, and “the discussion related to the case report should be done at the level of the capital and in general in the cities with problems at this time.
Marius Geantă, director of the Center for Innovation in Medicine, said in turn that Romania is “far from the maximum testing capacity.” He recommended improving the definition of the case.
“The number of tests done on demand has also decreased recently, but what is relevant is that proportionally we are now diagnosing more cases compared to the number of tests compared to October. In addition, there are two very relevant indicators: the number of serious cases remains high, as is the number of deaths. Statistically, at the national level, we can speak of a slight decrease ”, added Dr. Marius Geantă.
The doctor said he is concerned that people from the red zones, referring to the capital, moved much more than two weeks ago, in preparation for the holidays: “The more we interact during this period, the more we spend pandemic fire.”
In turn, the doctor Adrian Marinescu said that “we certainly hope that the holidays cause a greater number of infections.”
“The question is whether it will be a slight increase or an explosion, because some things will not be respected. If there is an explosion in early January, it will surely be very difficult to solve at the capital level, because there will be the same places of intensive care, the same places otherwise. Even if it is not an ideal solution, there should be more hospitals. Some go with a double circuit and, like it or not, that is the reality, we will get here. Large hospitals must also care for SARS-CoV-2 patients. And so we will be able to balance ourselves, especially for a very difficult situation, such as it will be in January, ”the infectious disease doctor stressed.
Why does Dr. Adrian Marinescu want to be the first Romanian to be vaccinated against COVID-19?
Regarding the 10,000 doses that will arrive in the next period, in a first phase, the two specialists said that it would be rather “a first symbolic step”.
“In January, the amount allocated to this contract is about 600,000 doses and we are already entering another phase, much more relevant,” said Dr. Marius Geantă, noting that, most likely, in the first month of next year it will be approved and the second vaccine in the EU, the one developed by Moderna, given that the decision in the case of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine is expected this month.
When asked if he will be among the first 5,000 Romanians to be tested for COVID, Dr. Adrian Marinescu said he would like to be the first.
“But I will probably not be the first. I think there will be more people willing. I would like to be an example, to show that it is the safest vaccine possible in this situation and that I want it to end the pandemic. And to take an important step, I think that is the best thing to do, ”added Dr. Adrian Marinescu.
Publisher: GC
