Bodies pile up in morgues at the epicenter of the European epidemic 0
(Dan Tri) – Low vaccination rates and lack of trust in vaccines leave Romania straining to cope with a new wave of epidemics.
Staff transfer the body of a Covid-19 victim at a hospital morgue in Bucharest, Romania (Photo: Reuters).
`The number of deaths keeps increasing,` nurse Claudiu Ionita sighed, standing in front of a long line of gurneys of bodies in the morgue of Bucharest University Hospital in Romania.
This morgue has a capacity to hold 15 bodies, but on the day CNN reporters visited, they received 41 bodies.
To date, Romania has recorded more than 1.7 million cases of infection, including more than 55,300 deaths from Covid-19.
`This Covid-19 wave is much worse than previous times. It’s like a war. We enter the treatment room, but we don’t know when we will come out,` said Dr. Anca Streinu-Cercel at
Bucharest University Hospital is the largest medical facility in the Romanian capital treating Covid-19 patients.
`Since I started working as a nurse, I never thought I would have to go through something like this. I never thought such a disaster could happen,` Ionita said.
All beds on some of the hospital’s upper floors, except for the newly expanded intensive care units, are now full.
Inside the morgue, a medical worker hammered nails into a wooden coffin, while another colleague sprayed disinfectant on the coffin.
Romania has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe.
Health workers and officials attribute Romania’s low vaccination rate to a variety of factors, including public skepticism, deep religious beliefs and a torrent of misinformation on social media.
When Dr. Alexandra Munteanu came to work at one of the vaccination centers in Bucharest after a night shift in the hospital, she noticed that the number of people getting vaccinated was very low.
`There are many doctors, including me, treating Covid-19 patients, and we are trying to convince people that this epidemic really exists,` the female doctor said.
Suceava, an hour’s flight northeast of Bucharest, has the lowest vaccination rate in Romania.
`This is an area with a strong religious tradition and a lot of religious people. However there are very few priests who are pro-vaccine, and I know there are certainly some who are anti-vaccine. We have evidence, from
Covid-19 vaccines in Romania have all been extensively tested for use in children and have been proven to be safe and effective.
`Vaccine means the boundary between life and death. Everyone should understand that. Maybe in the last moment of life, they should understand that,` said nurse Ionita.
