Vaccination

A member of the Crisis Staff, epidemiologist Dr Predrag Kon, stated after that session that all the measures introduced against the coronavirus remain until further notice and that there was no talk of their easing.

On the verge of a third wave of mutant strains of Covid-19 and problems with the supply of agreed vaccines, the European Union reports a serious problem with the vaccination of the population and already mulls purchasing other vaccines - the Russian Sputnik V and the Chinese Sinopharm.

The head of Senate's Committee on European Affairs, Angel Tilvar, says Romania is still "at the bottom of the European rankings" in terms of the percentage of GDP allocated to health or patients' access to innovative medicines. "Our country is still at the bottom of the European rankings in terms of the percentage of GDP allocated to health or patients' access to innovative medicines.

Greek health authorities have so far vaccinated more than 410,000 people in the country with at least the first dose, which corresponds to 3.9 percent of the population, a Health Ministry official said Monday.

Among healthcare staff, more than 73 percent of doctors have received the jab.

The immunisation of the population with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will start in Romania on February 15, and to that end 180 new vaccination offices will open, according to the National COVID-19 Vaccination Coordination Committee (CNCAV).

The Turkish public has grown more pessimistic about a return to normalcy, with only around 20 percent believing that the COVID-19 outbreak would be over within a year, a survey commissioned by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has shown.

According to "Bloomberg", now more and more countries, including those in the EU, are joining the line to buy Sputnik V.

Today, vaccination with Oxford/AstraZeneca begins at Pirogov emergency hospital. Among those vaccinated will be a member of the Central Electoral Commission, the Health Ministry said.

Serbia has set a blistering pace in the COVID-19 vaccination race thanks to big deliveries from Russia and China. As the country makes plans to produce Russia's Sputnik V, some - but not all - of its Balkan peers are now also looking east.

If the vaccination rollout had not been undertaken by the European Union, member-states would have gone at each other tooth and nail in a vaccine war.

The achievement of central management, however, is difficult to highlight when it is blocked by blatant shortcomings in the management of the rollout.