Four percent of Moldova's population vaccinated against COVID-19

Chisinau, 5 May /MOLDPRES/- About 685 thousand doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been received in the Republic of Moldova so far.

On 5 May about 133 thousand people got the first dose of vaccine, the second - over 18 thousand. Currently, 4% of people got vaccinated, according to data put out by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection (MSMPS).

"At present, vaccine coverage in our country is 4% of the population, the highest rate being among medical staff. In the world, the best vaccine coverage is registered in Israel and Great Britain, but the Republic of Moldova is ahead of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan ", said Angela Paraschiv, head of the Department of Epidemiology, Department of Preventive Medicine of the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy Nicolae Testemitanu, head of the Specialized Commission on Epidemiology of MSMPS.

Once the vaccination campaign is launched, there is a decrease in morbidity with the new coronavirus among medical staff. "There is a noticeable decrease, of 82%, of the morbidity among the medical workers, since the initiation of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, on March 2," said Paraschiv.

The vaccine is based on the use of a fragment of the whole virus that does not have the ability to replicate. Thus, no vaccine approved so far can lead to infection. If the person becomes ill after vaccination, it means that they are already in the incubation period of the virus and have coincided with vaccination. In this case, the vaccine will only help the person to cope with the disease more easily, by developing mild clinical signs, similar to a common cold.

MSMPS State Secretary Igor Curov informed that the manufacturer Pfizer has confirmed that it will deliver to the Republic of Moldova a batch of this type of vaccine, or, the authorities are currently negotiating the purchase of a batch of doses for our country. The commercial offer was 700 thousand doses.

Representatives of the Ministry of Health also stressed that all vaccines brought to the Republic of Moldova are safe and approved for use by the European Medicines Agency, the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

"The approval of vaccines by these agencies is based on a very rigorous evaluation, involving experts from over 70 countries. It is an independent evaluation, or this fact allows us to have full confidence in the safety and efficacy of these sera ", health officials said.

In another cntext, the leadership of the Ministry of Health warned the population that given May holidays and premature relaxation, there is a risk of increasing the number of COVID-19 infections, so an appeal was made to citizens to be careful and comply with sanitary-epidemiological measures.