Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout for Children Aged 5-11 in Romania

Romania launched Wednesday a coronavirus vaccination campaign for children aged between 5 and 11 after the country recorded a huge jump in new cases.

Parents or legal guardians can make an appointment on the national vaccination platform to have their children receive the Pfizer vaccines. More than 3,300 appointments have already been made.

Vaccines will be applied at a 21-day period.

Vaccination rates are low nationally, at only 48% for a population of 19.5 million.

Romania registered Wednesday a hit a record of nearly 35,000 new coronavirus cases, almost doubling its previous record set only a day earlier.

The daily cases have dramatically surged over the past month, from about a 1,000 cases in mid-December to the pandemic record of 34,255 cases on Wednesday.

The total number of COVID-19-related deaths recorded a daily death toll was 94, which was also the highest number of virus deaths in more than a month. Romania has seen nearly 60,000 deaths since the outbreak began.

Three-quarters of the death cases were unvaccinated and over 80% of the 692 patients in the ICU have also not been jabbed, official data shows.