Over 2 mln Romanians vaccinated against COVID-19

BUCHAREST, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The total number of people vaccinated against the coronavirus exceeded 2 million in Romania on Wednesday, reaching 2,015,307.

Of the inoculated people, 1,072,985 have received both shots of one of the three vaccines -- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca -- currently approved for use in Romania, according to the National COVID Vaccination Coordination Committee.

Meanwhile, the number of side-effect reports stood at 10,507 since the start of the vaccination campaign on Dec. 27, 2020.

The eastern European country is currently in the third phase of vaccination, the final stage for all residents who are willing to get vaccinated. The first and second phases were for medical personnel and the population at risk, respectively.

As a new wave of COVID-19 rushed to Romania, the authorities imposed a new series of restrictions starting from Sunday, including early closure of businesses and longer curfew hours.

Official data showed that 6,156 new cases were registered in Romania in the past 24 hours, bringing the caseload to 952,803. Meanwhile, 129 more fatalities took the national death toll to 23,538.

Globally, 267 candidate vaccines are still being developed -- 83 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to the latest information released by the World Health Organization.