Romanian Prosecutors Investigate COVID-19 Vaccine Acquisitions

Romanian anti-corruption prosecutors opened an investigation regarding the acquisition procedures of the COVID-19 vaccines in Romania during the pandemic. According to sources, the prosecutors consider some of the acquisitions unjustified.

Coincidence or not, in 2020, some Romanian officials asked publicly for the acquisitions not to be investigated because they were done in the pandemic context.

The suspicions are that the authorities acquired too many vaccine doses. 18.5 million doses were purchased by the Romanian Government. Lots of them were donated to other countries or sold, as the vaccination intention was way below the predictions.

Precisely, as reported by the local media, less than 10 million doses were used for vaccination, while 4.7 million were donated or sold.

In a country where the vaccination is widely hindered by the inability of the Government to properly communicate the side effects of the vaccines, millions of doses are about to expire. Around 31% of the Romanian population is fully vaccinated and the future doesn’t promise anything better. Asked about the failure of the vaccination campaign in the country, Prime Minister Florin Citu bluntly told the press he was not an advertising agency.

In Bucharest and other cities, mandatory green certificates aim at persuading more people to get the vaccine. But people start noticing that the higher the vaccination rate, as it is in Bucharest, with 50% of the residents vaccinated, the higher the chances for that locality of getting quarantined.

Next week Romania will start administering the third jab for the population, in a desperate attempt to reduce the effects of the fourth wave which wreaks havoc across the country.