Coronavirus Chronicle in Moldova: Vaccine Disposal, “Street Vaccination” and “Extra Expenses”

It is not yet possible to reverse the difficult coronavirus situation in our republic: morbidity and mortality rates are growing, and only in October we lost almost 900 people due to COVID-19

The World Health Organization has been recording COVID-19 incidence increase in Europe for five weeks in a row. Notably, it remains the only part of the world where the number of new coronavirus cases keeps growing – in other regions there is a decrease in the incidence. Last week, more than 3 million new COVID-19 cases were detected worldwide, which is 3% more than in the previous seven days. Mortality rates also increased by 8%: more than 50 thousand people died in a week. In total, almost 250 million people were diagnosed with coronavirus during the pandemic, more than 5 million of them died. Due to the fact that the number of coronavirus victims has beaten the 5 million mark, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres again appealed to world leaders to coordinate actions to vaccinate 70% of the world’s inhabitants, noting that ensuring fairness in the distribution of vaccines would be the best way to honor the memory of the coronavirus victims. “I urge world leaders to fully support the Global Vaccination Strategy I launched with the World Health Organization last month. We need to vaccinate 40% of people around the world by the end of this year and 70% by mid-2022. I call on world leaders to ensure urgent and large-scale actions, to deal with the lack of funding and coordinate their actions in order to achieve success,” the UN Secretary General said in his appeal. Let me remind you that at the end of last year, Guterres proposed to create a special working group to combat the pandemic which would plan the vaccination schedule around the world and distribute vaccines. However, despite regular reminders, this task has not yet been solved. In total, about 7 billion of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been manufactured in the world so far. In our republic, the level of vaccinated people is still only 25%. Vaccination rates are so low that the country does not have time to use the provided and purchased vaccine doses. About 10% of all vaccine stocks have already been disposed. At the end of November, another batch of 15 thousand AstraZeneca doses expires. According to experts, the vaccination scenario in our country is out of control. After the “street vaccination” incident in one of the Moldovan villages was made public, the BoCS deputies even took the initiative to create a special investigative commission in parliament, which, however, was not supported by the parliamentary majority. “The COVID-19 situation has gotten out of hand. The authorities cannot manage the problem, so they are looking for those to blame for everything and, as they think, these are citizens, first of all. We are told that intensive care of those unvaccinated will not be paid. It reminds me of the Plahotniuc times – only those who paid were treated,” said MP Vladimir Odnostalco, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Commission on Social Protection, Health and Family. Not only the “street vaccination”, but also a number of statements by the Minister of Health Ala Nemerenco came to public attention. In one of her public speeches, the head of the Ministry of Health stated in particular that the state “is wasting money while treating patients infected with COVID-19 but not vaccinated.” “To treat patients in intensive care units, depending on the hospital where they have been admitted, ultimately costs over 20 thousand lei, sometimes reaching 150 thousand lei per patient. We are wasting this money in vain, because there are those who do not want to be vaccinated,” said Ala Nemerenco. The situation strongly resembles last year’s story when ex-head of the National Agency for Public Health Nicolae Furtune said that 99% of COVID-19 deaths in Moldova were among people who had at least one concomitant disease calling them “a burden for him and others”. The scandal, of course, ended with Furtune’s resignation. “One thing is clear - Mr. Furtune must leave. Not only because of his statements, but also because he was very bad in handling the pandemic situation in our country. The 1,074 people who died from COVID-19 were not a burden to their loved ones. Mr. Furtune is a burden to all of us,” Nemerenco said then. The fact that only in October about 900 people died from coronavirus in Moldova (twice as many as in September) is noteworthy. Moreover, Ala Nemerenco warns that the following days will see an increase in the number of deaths. According to her, ventilator dependent patients have little chance of survival, which is why “many deaths are expected in the coming days.” It seems that the current leadership of the Ministry of Health also cannot boast of much success in the fight against the coronavirus. Currently, Moldova has almost 14 thousand people sick with coronavirus. Hospitals have activated 3,561 beds for COVID-19 patients, of which about 2,900 are already occupied. There are 354 beds available in intensive care units. In total, 343,000 cases of a novel coronavirus were registered in our country, almost 8 thousand of them died.