Vaccination with the third dose might start next week in Romania

Romania is considering the administration of the 3rd dose of vaccine earlier, due to the spread of the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, announced the coordinator of the vaccination campaign, Valeriu Gheorghiță on Tuesday. The decision is due this week.

Romania is currently optimizing both the national programming platform for the third dose and the National Electronic Register of Vaccinations just to be ready when we start administering the third dose in Romania “, he said.

Priority will be given to medical staff, the elderly and those with chronic diseases and low immunity.

For the third dose, the appointment will be made on the platform, for those who go to the vaccination centers. The vaccine can also be given to a family doctor without an appointment.

Those who go to vaccination centers for the first and third dose, however, do not need programming.

Gheorghiță said that the third dose would be made with a vaccine based on messenger RNA, ie Pfizer or Moderna, 6 months after the first dose of vaccine.

The third dose of the anti-Covid vaccine will be given as priority to people with cancer, who are either undergoing active treatment or previously treated and who are in the post-cancer phase, but also those who have aggravating risk factors, such as lung disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, liver cirrhosis and other immunosuppressive conditions. Other categories are post-transplant patients, patients with chronic diseases, chronic lung diseases, cardiovascular, liver, hematological, renal, endocrinology, rheumatic, dermatological, neurovascular and neurovegetative diseases, dementia, advanced psychiatric diseases, congenital diseases. Also, patients with moderate or severe immunodeficiency due to primary immunodeficiencies, such as HIV patients at any stage.

On Tuesday, the interim minister of Health, Cseke Attila also said the the third anti-Covid vaccine dose will be available in Romania this autumn, mainly targeting the health care workers and Romanians who are chronically ill. However, the minister said that anyone who wants to take the third dose of the jab will be able to do that.