The doctors are concerned that many people refuse to take the vaccine against pandemic flu and say the fear of this vaccine, which is fueled by rumors spread over the Internet and on TV, is unjustified. In a news conference on January 12, Chisinau medical officials called on the population to take the vaccine as soon as possible in order to cope with the second wave of the disease that is expected to be much more serious, Info-Prim Neo reports. The second wave of pandemic flu will start in March-April, said Luminita Suveica, the acting head of the Chisinau Health Division. “Therefore, the population must be vaccinated now as in that period it can be too late.” According to Luminita Suveica, 6,500 persons have been immunized against pandemic flu in the municipality of Chisinau so far. Of them, 3,700 are medical employees. As many as 50,000 vaccines have been allocated to the municipality. The children older than 16 started to be vaccines in the Chisinau schools on January 12. But a child is immunized only after the parents give their consent in written form. “We must convince the parents that this vaccine was tested and is harmless,” Luminita Suveica said. Victor Puiu, the head of the Botanica Local Medical Association, warned that the danger of pandemic flu is not at all exaggerated. “The people must know that this vaccine should be administered on time,” he said. The organizers of the conference said the Ministry of Health had no reasons to accuse the municipal medical authorities of not making effort to promote the vaccination campaign. By January 12, the presence of the virus had been detected in 2,639 samples of the 5,919 tested. The pandemic influenza cased 35 deaths in Moldova between May 21, 2009 and January 12, 2010. A number of 1,160 cases of acute viral infections, 526 cases of confirmed flu and 189 cases of acute pneumonia were recorded in the country on January 11.