Chief microbiologist says vaccination law absolutely necessary; too long in Parliament without final decision

Chairman of the Romanian Society of Microbiology Alexandru Rafila on Friday urged the adoption of the vaccination law, highlighting the fact that vaccination coverage in Romania has recorded constant decreases. "The vaccination law is absolutely necessary. It has been with Parliament for too long without a final decision. As we speak, it has been approved by the Romanian Senate, and it has been adopted by the Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies. It is time for it to be adopted by the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies," Rafila stated told an online debate on Friday called "World Immunisation Week - the week of hope in the fight against epidemics." He mentioned that in Romania efforts have been made for several years to promote vaccination legislation, vaccination coverage in the country has steadily decreased since 2009. "In Romania, as well as in developed countries in Western Europe - I mean France, Germany, Italy - vaccination coverage has been steadily declining in time, which called for the development of legislation to remedy this inconsistency in the vaccination programmes, so that they reach the levels recommended by the World Health Organisation, for children, i.e. 95% vaccination coverage - a level that provides protection against communicable diseases preventable by vaccination," he said. Rafila pointed out that Nordic countries, such as Denmark, do not have such legislation because they have a vaccination coverage of 95-98%. "There was no need for such a law in Romania either, but since 2009 vaccination coverage has steadily decreased by 10-15 percent and today, for example, the vaccination coverage rate for dose I measles, which is administered at age one, is about 85%. But for the second dose, which is administered at age five, the vaccination coverage rate is about 65%. For the last four years, that has triggered in Romania a measles epidemic that has caused 20,000 illnesses and 64 deaths and we expect late complications from these measles cases to occur," Rafila said. He mentioned that a vaccination law is needed because at the moment vaccines in Romania cannot be stored for long periods. "Despite the fact that the Ministry of Health has launched public procurement procedures, the purchase of vaccines has not been successful, because there is a global vaccine crisis, especially for some of them. Moreover, the vaccination programme has even changed, as to adapt market availability, not necessarily to the public health demand," he said. Rafila also spoke about the responsibility of family physicians, paediatricians, epidemiologists, and also of the Ministry of Health, for the timely provision of all vaccines under the national programme. He also mentioned the responsibility of parents, as unvaccinated children run the risk of getting sick, even if they have been vaccinated. "Vaccines are not perfect; there is no perfect vaccine that produces 100% immunity and, despite the administration of the vaccine, there will be a small percentage of children who will not get immune to the disease. And then, if we reduce vaccine coverage below 95% - which is the target of the WHO - disease preventable by vaccination may spread in epidemic hot spots. I think that has happened in the case of the measles epidemic. Romania also has many cases of rubella, many cases of whooping cough, and cases of tetanus. Diphtheria is at Romania's borders. There have been cases of diphtheria in Ukraine and it must be made very clear that diphtheria, in an unprotected population - especially children - is a disease that can wreak havoc," said Rafila. Rafila underscored the importance of influenza vaccination amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, especially in the elderly and those with chronic diseases. "In autumn time we will co-exist with two viruses that cause serious respiratory infections. It is the novel coronavirus, which will continue to circulate in autumn; it is about influenza viruses. Both types of viruses are transmitted in exactly the same way, they produce lung infections, and general prevention measures are symmetrical. Practically, cough hygiene, hand washing, the use of a mask prevent both the flu and the infection with the novel coronavirus. In addition, we have a flu vaccine that can prevent it in a high proportion of those vaccinated and recommended for administration, because a simultaneous infection with both the novel coronavirus and the influenza viruses is a challenge, especially in an elderly person or one who has chronic diseases, and so the flu vaccination is all the more recommended because it practically eliminates one of the two threats," said Rafila. AGERPRES (RO - author: Irinela Visan, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)