Moldova has so far received just 36,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine; enough to inoculate just over 1% of its 2.6 million population.
One coordinator from the National Vaccine Programme acknowledged that the supplies received don”t even cover the primary group targeted for vaccination – the country’s 60,000 medical staff. Alexei Ceban, Coordinator of Vaccine Programme at Moldova’s Agency For Public Health claims that while the country’s three-stage roll-out strategy is ready, the doses are not.
“To keep our target to have 70% of our population immunised, we need to have more negotiations with (vaccine) manufacturers. But we are a small country, with a small sized population; we are not as interesting for manufacturers as other (bigger, richer) countries. We are making a lot of efforts to
Recently-elected President, Maia Sandu told Euronews she has secured a donation of 200,000 doses from Romania and free access to 20% of Moldova’s total vaccine needs through the global vaccine initiative COVAX:
“We see states which are in a better position, with stronger institutions, which are facing challenges. You can imagine how difficult it is for a State with weak institutions like Moldova. And I have to say that the State has been weakened especially by corruption.”
Sandu goes on: “Of course, with weak institutions is more difficult to organise things and to meet people´s expectations… we need to improve governance and why we need to get rid of corrupt people who are trying to make money today even from the current situation”.
Watch Euronews’s full report in the player above.
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