Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: Is Vaccination Accelerating?

Marina DRAGALIN

Moldova has crossed the mark of 1 million administered doses of vaccines against COVID-19. Despite the fact that over the past two weeks the number of vaccinated people has increased by almost a third, their share remains quite low – around 15%. Will the country be able to achieve the target set by the Ministry of Health and exceed the 70% target by September 1?

The World Health Organization notes an increase in countries where the most dangerous SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant has spread to date. “132 countries and territories, including eight new geographies, have reported cases of infection with the Delta variant,” the WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record says. At the same time, other strains classified as “a concern” expand their habitat: the Alpha variant was detected in 182 countries, the Beta variant – in 131, the Gamma variant – in 81. According to the WHO, over the past week, the incidence of coronavirus in the world has increased by 8%. Almost 4 million new infections have been detected. The number of deaths increased by 21%: almost 70 thousand people died in a week. In total, about 197 million cases were recorded in the world, with 4.2 million fatal cases. Against this background, Japan is hosting the Olympic Games, which were postponed last year due to the pandemic. The other day, a new daily maximum of 2, 848 COVID-19 cases was revealed in Tokyo. The last maximum of 2,520 people, for comparison, was recorded in early January. At the same time, only seven cases are related to the Olympics: two athletes and officials. According to the organizers of Tokyo 2020, the total number of cases since the beginning of this month was 155 people. The share of COVID-19 positive tests at the Games is about 0.02%. According to the IOC spokesperson Mark Adams, “almost 100% of the Steering Committee members are vaccinated” with lesser number of vaccinated athletes. Speaking about the European region, it is worth noting that the epidemiological situation is not improving: many European countries record a strong increase in the number of infections. “Despite the tremendous efforts of Member States to vaccinate people across the region, millions of people remain unvaccinated and are therefore at risk of being hospitalized. The good news is that the data clearly show that receiving a full series of vaccinations significantly reduces the risk of serious illness and death,” according to a joint release from the ECDC and the WHO. The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU had achieved its expected level of vaccination. “Our goal was to protect 70% of the adult population in the European Union with at least one vaccination in July. Today we have achieved this goal,” von der Leyen stated. Almost 57% of adults received the full dose. It is becoming clearer every day that, despite numerous calls from WHO and human rights activists, vaccination against COVID-19 is going to become mandatory. Only some social categories in certain countries globally have been forced so far to get a jab in order to continue working. However, the general trend has already been set and will be supported by various actions to stimulate immunization programs within the country (for example, lotteries and monetary compensation for vaccination), and the opening for relatively free movement around the world. The first sign was the news that Google will oblige employees to be vaccinated before returning to the office. The epidemiological situation in Moldova is also deteriorating. The Delta variant has been officially confirmed in the country. “We urge the population to continue to comply with basic preventive measures. At the same time, the most reliable method is vaccination,” epidemiologist Angela Parasciv said. Experts predict an increase closer to autumn, when students return to school. Meanwhile, the capital has already been transferred to the COVID “yellow zone”, since the number of cases has increased by more than 40%, and deaths – by almost 6% compared with previous weeks. It is also worth expecting a return of the Carabinieri to the streets of the city. The population, apparently, also takes the situation seriously. Over the past two weeks, the number of vaccinated people has increased by 30%, but the total proportion of the vaccinated population remains quite low – around 15%. At the same time, the goal of the Ministry of Health is to exceed the threshold of 70% by September 1, but to achieve it, even the current high rates will need to be multiplied. For reference: to date, about 259 thousand cases of a new type of coronavirus have been detected in Moldova, with 6,253 fatal cases.