MoH DENIES ACCUSATIONS ON ITS UNPREPAREDNESS FOR CORONAVIRUS VACCINATION

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection has expressed disagreement with "the public statements that contained distorted information about the level of the health sector's readiness for acceptance of a vaccine against COVID-19, and about the Ministry's actions to provide the Moldovan population with the vaccine".

The Ministry today published a statement on its official website and in social networks saying that yet in summer 2020 the MoH sent to the World Health Organization (WHO) a letter concerning its intention to participate in the COVAX Program, and on July 30 Moldova acquired an access to vaccines against COVID-19. In December, with the assistance of the WHO and UNICEF, the Ministry had prepared all the documents necessary for receiving the vaccines.

The Ministry also rejected assertions that it has allegedly no technical possibilities to store the vaccine [Pfizer] at a temperature of below minus 70 degrees centigrade. According to the MoH, already presently the National Agency for Public Health has possibilities for storing 140,000 doses of the vaccine at such a temperature, and by the end of January the storage capacity will be increased by 400,000 more doses.

As was reported by Infotag earlier today, the harsh criticism against the former health authorities was offered by Presidential Adviser Alla Nemerenco, ex-Minister of Health, Labor and Social Protection, who stated on the television on Monday that the previous authorities appeared to be "totally unprepared for launching a coronavirus vaccination".