I have decided to come to Romania because it’s one of the very few countries which will let us in from Tanzania with quarantine. I am not sure why because I would have thought we would be the riskiest country to allow in. I ask no questions, I am just grateful.
When I get to Bucharest I go straight to the vaccine centre where I heard you can get Johnson and Johnson for free. I went. I waited. I couldn’t. Because we are no longer in the EU I did not qualify. Bugger. I did not vote for this. I headed to my AirBnB in the old town with a handwritten list of places which might give me a jab the following day.
Wandering around the old town in the evening is fantastic. There are bars and restaurants, all with outside seating. It’s completely pedestrianised and there are accordion buskers and real buzz about the place.
On my way back to the AirBnB I spotted a van and even without any Romanian I understood enough to make me excited. I walked around the van and found three young people waiting for customers.
“Can I have a vaccine please?”
“Yes, do you want Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson”
It was as easy as that. I chose J&J because it’s single dose and I will be able to enter the UK without quarantine after 14 days. They didn’t even care that we had exited the EU. God bless the Romanians.