CHISINAU – Another 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were delivered to Moldova as humanitarian aid from Romania on July 23. The shipment arrived the day of a working visit to Chisinau by Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, who is the first foreign official to visit Moldova since the July 11 parliamentary elections.
Aurescu noted that Romania delivered the first doses of vaccine to Moldova in February and is consistent in this regard, “demonstrating sincere support for Moldovan citizens, having delivered more than 400,000 doses of vaccines in several tranches.”
Romania and Moldova fought the pandemic together last year and continued to do so this year, Aurescu said. “Vaccination made it possible to restore economic activity and safely hold early parliamentary elections,” he said.
Moldovan presidential health advisor Ala Nemerenco said that the fact that the country “managed to create comfortable conditions from an epidemiological point of view, reduce COVID-19 mortality, and remove a number of restrictions is a merit, including that of Romania, which has become an important partner in the fight against the pandemic.”
As Interfax previously reported, Maia Sandu, after taking office as president, asked Romania to assist in providing vaccines, which Moldova lacked at that time. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis promised to urgently allocate 200,000 doses of vaccines. So far, Romania has donated 513,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which more than 92% have been used. An additional 100,620 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were delivered on Friday.
In total, Moldova has purchased only 100,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine SinoVac. Moldova has received more than 1.4 million doses as humanitarian aid, including more than 600,000 from Romania. Approximately the same number of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines was delivered through the COVAX facility, as well as 150,000 doses of Sinopharm from China, 150,000 doses of Janssen from the United States, and 172,000 doses of Sputnik V from Russia, of which 72,000 were sent to Transdniestria.
The vaccination campaign in Moldova began on March 2. At present, about 930,000 people have been vaccinated, of which about 430,000 have received two doses. Officially, the population of Moldova is more than three million. Less than 1.5 million voters took part in the July 11 parliamentary elections.
