The COVID-19 vaccine will be administered free in the Republic of Moldova. Before vaccination, the person will sign an agreement and will be informed about the possible side effects. Each vaccinated person will be given a vaccination certificate, IPN reports.

In a press briefing, secretary of state at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection Tatiana Zatyk said the Republic of Moldova through the agency of COVAX will receive COVID-19 vaccines for 20% of the country’s population, for both sides of the Nistru, free of charge. Moldova also asked for shots for another 30% of the population at preferential prices, with all the additional costs included, through the Cost-Sharing COVAX program. The Ministry aims to buy more vaccines for the whole population with state budget funds, with money from the Government’s assistance funds, the mandatory health insurance funds, etc.

Also, Moldova is in the process of obtaining the vaccines donated by the EU and other states. “Our goal is to ensure the vaccination of 70% of the population,” stated Tatiana Zatyk.

Moldova is waiting for the 200,000 COVID-19 vaccines from Romania and is ready to store and administer these, regardless of its origin. When the vaccines are supplied to Moldova, they will be stored at the National Public Health Agency, which can store over 100,000 shots at temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius.

The four bought cold storage systems – two at temperatures of minus 20 degrees Celsius and two at temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius – are to be delivered to Moldova towards the end of January.

The vaccines will be distributed to health facilities in special self-cooling containers. The shots need to be administered within 120 hours of the placing in the fridge.

Specialized teams will be created at public health facilities to monitor the immunization process. During January 13-14, the healthcare workers will be trained how to manage the vaccines at online workshops.