Vaccine hesitancy in Romania, stoked by powerful forces online and in the real world, has left the country with Europe’s second-lowest vaccination rate and the world’s highest per capita death rate from Covid-19 in recent weeks.
Around 44 percent of adults have had at least one dose, ahead of only Bulgaria, which is at 29 percent. The E.U. overall stands at 81 percent.
“This wave is far worse than the others — it is like a war,” said one doctor working at an infectious disease hospital in the Romanian capital, Bucharest. The surge in cases could have been avoided if more people had been vaccinated, she said.
The history of Communism in Eastern European countries, and the disarray and corruption that followed, has made many people suspicious of what officials and doctors tell them to do. Complicating matters, Romania has been without a government since last month, when a centrist coalition unraveled.
Mixed signals: The Romanian Orthodox church has not thrown its support behind the vaccines. Though its leader, Patriarch Daniel in Bucharest, told people to make up their own minds and listen to doctors, many local clerics and some influential bishops have denounced vaccines as the Devil’s work.
New York Times