Even if the number of COVID-19 cases has increased, for now there are no preconditions for imposing restrictions, said Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco. According to her, the wave of infections reported in a number of European states reached Moldova too and vaccination remains an efficient method of protecting oneself from the virus. Together with the reduction in the number of new cases, the number of persons willing to get vaccinated also declined. Now that the virus reappeared, immunization remains a priority, IPN reports.
The minister noted that the number of cases of COVID-19 during June 20-26 grew by 85% to 465. There were reported four cases of death. The new wave of the pandemic that generated an alarming situation in Europe reaches Moldova as well.
“It is a normal behavior of the virus. The number of cases in our country has grown later than in other European states. The echo of the wave in Europe now reaches our country. The vaccination campaign continues, but with very small steps. We are now conducting a broad information campaign about not only COVID-19 vaccination, but about all the vaccines of the national immunization program. The pandemic influenced the vaccination rate. The coverage is under 80% and this means that we can have explosions of measles or other infections typical of children. And this would be serious as the risk of the pandemic persists,” Ala Nemerenco stated in ate Special Edition on the public TV channel Moldova 1.
She noted that the National Public Health Agency has safe and efficient vaccines against COVID-19, but the people are not very disposed to get a vaccine and not only against COVID-19, but also against other diseases.
“In spring, a lot of vaccine doses expired and they were destroyed. These vaccines came from donations and we didn’t spend national funds on them. There are now no shots that need to be destroyed. We had Pfizer vaccine doses that were close to expiry, but we received a letter from producers whereby we were informed that the period of validity was extended for three months. The current number of cases does not necessitate restrictions, but we should further keep social distancing, wash our hands, wear masks in closed crowded places and disinfect surfaces,” said Ala Nemerenco.
According to official data, the vaccination rate since March 2, 2021, when the immunization campaign was launched, has increased to 32.0% in the case of the first dose and to 31.15% in the case of the complete series. Also, 92% of the health workers in Moldova completed the vaccination series.
