Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: Will Vaccination Be Mandatory?

Marina DRAGALIN

New coronavirus strains are rapidly spreading around the globe, in the European region in particular. It's only a matter of time before the epidemiological situation in Moldova deteriorates, but much will depend on the success of the immunization campaign

The new wave of the coronavirus epidemic continues to gain momentum. Notably, increasingly dangerous and infectious variants of the virus are becoming widespread. The World Health Organization has listed four SARS-CoV-2 strains which "raise concern": alpha (British), beta (South African), gamma (Brazilian) and delta (Indian). The latter, according to experts, is twice as transmissible as the original Wuhan version. WHO has recorded the "delta" spreading already in more than 110 countries. Moreover, the causative agent of the disease continues to mutate: the delta-plus strain was recently found. In total, the coronavirus has been confirmed to date in almost 194 million people, more than 4.15 million people have died. WHO fears that even more dangerous new strain might emerge. This was stated by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the 138th session of the International Olympic Committee. According to the expert, a new strain may result from the further spread of the infection around the world. "The more tarnsmission, the more variants will emerge with the potential to be even more dangerous than the Delta variant that is causing such devastation now. And the more variants, the higher the likelihood that one of them will evade vaccines and take us all back to square one," the head of WHO explains concerns. To date, this is an "unprecedented crisis" that demands "unprecedented action." Therefore, the World Health Organization considers vaccinating 70% of the population of every country by next September one of its main targets in the fight against COVID-19. According to Gebreyesus, the pandemic can be controlled, but to reverse it, 11 billion vaccines are required. Furthermore, WHO's Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge noted that given the rapid transmission of new coronavirus strains, WHO may issue a recommendation on mandatory vaccination. The expert emphasizes that mandatory vaccination is a last resort and warns that such a step could lead to an increase in the anti-vaccination movement. However, the delta strain is spreading very quickly in Europe and this could lead to a situation where health systems in many countries will be overwhelmed by high hospital occupancy. " Vaccinations delays take the lives and damage economies," Kluge stresses. The situation in Europe speaks eloquently of the danger of new strains, for example, in Finland where the other day the largest number of new cases was recorded since April, or in France. French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the country has entered the fourth wave of the epidemic and a surge in cases is growing rapidly. "The dynamics of the epidemic is extremely intense. We are observing a faster wave with a steeper curve than before," Attal says, noting that the number of COVID-19 cases has doubled over the past week and exceeds 10 thousand cases per day. Moreover, 80% of diseases are caused by the "delta" strain. "The number of hospitalized people is increasing ... Plus 43% of hospitalized and plus 27% of those taken to intensive care," the representative of the French government said. Experts note that the new strains are spreading mainly through the unvaccinated segment of the population. In the European Union, about 200 million people have been vaccinated against coronavirus as of today,almost 55% of the adult population. The EU has set a goal to fully vaccinate 70% of the adult population against coronavirus by the end of July. While health authorities are sounding the alarm and warning of a new surge in coronavirus cases in September, a number of restrictions imposed in Moldova remain mandatory only on paper, for example, wearing protective masks and measuring temperatures. Moreover, despite the fact that the new strains are more infectious and aggressive and the number of cases is growing, many Moldovan citizens still refuse to get immunized. While health authorities are sounding the alarm and warning that a new surge in coronavirus cases can be expected in September, a number of restrictions imposed in Moldova remain mandatory only on paper, for example, wearing protective masks and measuring temperatures. Moreover, despite the fact that the new strains are more infectious and aggressive, and the number of cases is growing, many Moldovan citizens still refuse to be immunized. According to health authorities, only 15% of the population has been vaccinated with at least one dose so far. The vaccination campaign is extremely unsteady. The data varies from day to day. For example, on July 18, 2.5 thousand people were vaccinated and on July 20 - almost 21 thousand. In total, according to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, about 926 thousand doses of the vaccine were administered in Moldova. Meanwhile, the coronavirus incidence is on the rise again. Recently, the number of new cases has doubled in comparison with the recent weeks' indicators. In total, more than 258 thousand cases of infection have been registered in Moldova today, of which 6232 have been fatal. If the situation continues to deteriorate and a new wave of infection continues to spread throughout Moldova, it may soon be necessary to seriously think about making the vaccination process mandatory for most categories of the population.