Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: Is there Any Progress?

Marina DRAGALIN While the world is panicking due to new coronavirus mutations and European countries are once again tightening quarantine measures, the epidemiological situation in Moldova seems to have begun stabilizing. It did not work leaving the coronavirus pandemic in the past year. To date, more than 88 million people have tested COVID-19 positive and almost 1.9 million deaths have been registered. The infection continues spreading and another incidence peak was recorded yesterday. More than 856 thousand infected were identified around the world and that is almost 100 thousand more than previous figures. The next 2-3 weeks are to show is this jump a one-time phenomenon or is it the beginning of a growing trend. It is worth noting that when ending, the 2020 brought the world new and more infectious strains of coronavirus, as do experts believe. These are mutations found in the UK and South Africa. And if the latter has been found so far only in 6 countries, the so-called “British” strain has already been registered within more than 40 countries. The World Health Organization believes the world community should pay close attention to researching new coronavirus strains. WHO Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus stressed that in 2021 the world community will face “new challenges” and, in particular, “new COVID-19 varieties”. “We are currently working closely with scientists around the world to better understand any changes in the virus, as well as the way these changes affect its ability to spread and cause disease in people,” the WHO Head said. Against this background, countries are extending and tightening quarantine measures. Japan has declared a State of Emergency in Tokyo and its suburbs. China is preparing for a possible pandemic wave in connection with the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration. Today, Ukraine brought in effect additional enhanced quarantine restrictions to prevent the COVID-19 spread. The UK, where the number of infected has already exceeded 2.5 million, has introduced the third hard lockdown. The EU countries are no way lagging behind. German authorities have decided to prolong tough restrictive measures in the country until January 31. Chancellor Angela Merkel explains these decisions as follows: “I have repeated and will repeat it once again: the coming winter months will be the most difficult ones from the epidemiological point of view, because the virus mutates very quickly. This highly infectious strain has already been identified in our country, so now we must again strain ourselves to establish all infection’s chains and foci of the disease spread." It should be noted that despite all statements and efforts made, the EU does actually fail vaccinating the population. In particular, Bloomberg devastatingly criticized the European bureaucrats: “Unfortunately, the EU does not seem to be very clever in carrying out the last and probably the most important stage of the fight against the virus which is mass vaccination.” Organizations and vaccination rate got criticized. It is enough mentioning that only 516 people got vaccinated in France during the first week. The total number of vaccinations in Germany, France, Italy and Spain is less than in Israel, for example, though the population of these four EU countries is about 30 times larger than that of Israel. Compared to Europe, the epidemiological situation in Moldova looks much better, especially in recent weeks. Thus, for example, the number of new cases since December 25 hasn't exceeded a thousand per dayThe total number of vaccinations in Germany, France, Italy and Spain is less than in Israel, for example, while the population of these four EU countries is about 30 times larger than that of Israel. Compared to Europe, the epidemiological situation in Moldova looks much better, especially in recent weeks. So, for example, the number of new cases hasn't exceeded a thousand per day since December 25. The number of active cases has also been steadily decreasing since mid-December and is currently less than 8.5 thousand, with peaks of about 18.5 thousand. The total number of confirmed cases in the country is 148 thousand, and 3106 people died. Still, the vaccination is obviously important and necessary. An effective and rapid mass vaccination will save thousands of lives, enable the soonest economic kick-start, and limit the risks of coronavirus mutation. However, amid the criticism of the process in the EU, the stated readiness of its representatives to assist Moldova with vaccination sound not impressive, to say the least. In particular, here we refer to the statements by the MEP Siegfried Muresan, who claims that he will do everything possible so that “the citizens of the Republic of Moldova have access to the vaccine against the coronavirus”.“The safest way to have access to the vaccine is with the support of Romania and the European Union. Therefore, our country and 12 other member states of the European Union addressed the European Commission with an official letter in which they support creating a European mechanism to facilitate access to vaccines for citizens of Moldova and other Eastern Partnership countries,” the MEP stressed. The first batch of vaccine will probably arrive in Moldova not from European partners, but through the COVAX platform, a structure created by the World Health Organization. Former Health Minister Viorica Dumbraveanu earlier stated that the first batches of vaccine might arrive in Moldova in the first decade of January. What kind of vaccine it will be is not yet clear, but the Moldovan authorities are ready to accept any type of the WHO-approved medicine. At the same time, experts argue unanimously that Moldova is not ready either to immunize the population or to receive coronavirus vaccines. Health expert Alla Tocarciuc said that Moldova lacks the necessary equipment to store the vaccine produced by the American-German pharmaceutical consortium Pfizer/BioNTech, and also stressed that preparation for immunizing the population against COVID-19 is very difficult and must go through several stages. “If not registered in Moldova, a vaccine must obtain a permit, but it is not yet clear how this will be done. We can follow the path of quick registration, which takes 90 days. Another way is to issue a license to import an unregistered product. A clause in our pharmaceutical law states that import of unregistered drugs is allowed in the event of an epidemic,” Alla Tocarciuс said. In this context, statements about stabilizing situation and recent positive dynamics are premature, no matter how much we would like it to be the reality, and it is necessary to wait at least 2 or 3 weeks. First, to see how the New Year and Christmas holidays might affect the incidence statistics. And secondly, this period of time will make it clear whether the vaccine will arrive in Moldova, what type of vaccine it will be and in what way the vaccination process will be organized by the authorities. The number of active cases has also been steadily decreasing since mid-December and is currently less than 8.5 thousand, with peaks of about 18.5 thousand. The total number of confirmed cases of infection in the country is 148 thousand, and 3106 people died. Still, the vaccination is obviously important and necessary. An effective and rapid mass vaccination will save thousands of lives, enable the soonest economic kick-start, and limit the risks of coronavirus mutation. However, amid the criticism of the process in the EU, the stated readiness of its representatives to assist Moldova with vaccination sound not impressive, to say the least. In particular, here we refer to the statements by the MEP Siegfried Muresan, who claims that he will do everything possible so that “the citizens of the Republic of Moldova have access to the vaccine against the coronavirus”.“The safest way to have access to the vaccine is with the support of Romania and the European Union. Therefore, our country and 12 other member states of the European Union addressed the European Commission with an official letter in which they support creating a European mechanism to facilitate access to vaccines for citizens of Moldova and other Eastern Partnership countries,” the MEP stressed. The first batch of vaccine will probably arrive in Moldova not from European partners, but through the COVAX platform, a structure created by the World Health Organization. Former Health Minister Viorica Dumbraveanu earlier stated that the first batches of vaccine might arrive in Moldova in the first decade of January. What kind of vaccine it will be is not yet clear, but the Moldovan authorities are ready to accept any type of the WHO-approved medicine. At the same time, experts argue unanimously that Moldova is not ready either to immunize the population or to receive coronavirus vaccines. Health expert Alla Tocarciuc said that Moldova lacks the necessary equipment to store the vaccine produced by the American-German pharmaceutical consortium Pfizer/BioNTech, and also stressed that preparation for immunizing the population against COVID-19 is very difficult and must go through several stages. “If not registered in Moldova, a vaccine must obtain a permit, but it is not yet clear how this will be done. We can follow the path of quick registration, which takes 90 days. Another way is to issue a license to import an unregistered product. A clause in our pharmaceutical law states that import of unregistered drugs is allowed in the event of an epidemic,” Alla Tocarciuс said. In this context, statements about stabilizing situation and recent positive dynamics are premature, no matter how much we would like it to be the reality, and it is necessary to wait at least 2 or 3 weeks. First, to see how the New Year and Christmas holidays might affect the incidence statistics. And secondly, this period of time will make it clear whether the vaccine will arrive in Moldova, what type of vaccine it will be and in what way the vaccination process will be organized by the authorities.