Romania revives restrictions as hospitals struggle, jabs lag

By NICOLAE DUMITRACHE and ANDREEA ALEXANDRU
Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Doctor Petruta Filip is working 100-hour weeks at a hospital in Romania’s capital Bucharest which, like hospitals throughout the country, is struggling under an onslaught of coronavirus patients requiring treatment amid worryingly low vaccination rates. In Romania, a European Union country of around 19 million, only 35% of adults are fully inoculated against COVID-19 compared to an EU average of 74%. This makes Romania the second-least vaccinated nation in the EU in front of Bulgaria, and the widespread vaccine hesitancy is crippling the country’s creaking health care system.