There are about 427,800 coronavirus vaccines currently in stock in Moldova. Most of them, 363,900, are Pfizer/Comirnary vaccines, and 308,900 of these are set to expire by the end of the year, the National Agency for Public Health said in response to a request for information from IPN.

Meanwhile, Astra Zeneca, Moderna/SpikeVax, Sputnik-V and Janssen/Johnson& Johnson vaccines are out of stock. There are 47,100 Sinopharm vaccines still left, expiring by the end of March 2023, and 16,600 CоrоnаVac/Sinovac vaccines, with the expiry date 7 April 2024.

The Agency says that people’s access to anti-COVID-19 vaccines in Moldova is unlimited. There are enough vaccine stocks to make the number of doses administered both daily and weekly much higher than it is now. Any primary health care institution in any locality can provide anti-COVID-19 vaccination services. There are 1,158 institutions providing anti-COVID-19 immunization services across the country, including 46 in Chisinau.

Vaccination centers sometimes offer vaccines that are labeled as expired, but whose shelf life has been extended by order of the Ministry of Health. The Agency says that this is normal practice, in accordance with the recommendations of the manufacturer and the World Health Organization. “The use of extended-term vaccines has created some uncertainties among the population, so it is important for the health care worker to correctly explain and present the confirmatory documents about the series that have been extended. The extended-term vaccines are equally effective and safe”, the Agency stated.

Slightly more than 31 percent of Moldovans are fully vaccinated, and only one in ten has had a booster shot as well.