COVID-19 tears through generation of unvaccinated Romanian elderly

FILE PHOTO: Valeriu Ghorghita, president of the National Committee for Coordination of Vaccination Activities against COVID-19, administers a dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to a man during a vaccination marathon, in Bucharest, Romania, 24 October 2021. Picture taken October 24, 2021. Inquam Photos/Georg Calin via REUTERS/File Photo

GIURGIU, Romania (Reuters) - Elderly patients gasping for air through oxygen masks in a central Romanian hospital struggled to explain why they had not been vaccinated despite easy access earlier in the coronavirus pandemic.

Romania has the second lowest vaccination rate in the 27-nation European Union and one of the highest COVID-19 mortality rates in the world, with doctors warning that the pandemic is ravaging a generation of grandparents.