site.btaRomania Faces Its Gravest Vaccination Crisis in Decades - NGO

An NGO has warned that Romania is facing its gravest vaccination crisis in decades. In a Facebook post, the Save the Children NGO informs that less than half of the children in the country have received a first dose of a measles vaccine in 2025. Some of the main reasons stated are misinformation on social media, removing vaccination from schools and isolation of the rural areas.

The organization pays attention to the decrease in vaccination coverage rate against MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), especially for the second dose, which is administered at age five. They call on authorities to simplify the reporting system, to provide communication training for medical staff, and to form teams at a local level for promoting vaccination among children.

According to European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control statistics, the total number of measles cases on EU level between February 1, 2024 and January 31, 2025 was 32,265 out of which 27,568 cases were in Romania. Between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2025 35,736 measles cases were reported in the country, most of which were children under the age of 15 and the remaining among teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19. The same period has registered 30 death tolls.

The World Health Organization states that vaccination rates in all of Romania’s counties are below the recommended 95% with Bihor Country having the highest rate at over 70% and Arges County the lowest rate at 23,7%.

The European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination (RVC) concludes that Romania is one of the 13 countries in the European region of WHO where measles is endemic, meaning that the disease is regularly occurring.

Gabriela Alexandrescu, CEO of Save the Children in Romania declares the numbers "a collective failure, as every unvaccinated child is put at risk of a preventable disease and death".