Bulgaria’s Chief State Health Inspector: Immunisation against Covid-19 will start after New Year
Immunisation in Bulgaria against Covid-19 will “certainly” start after the New Year, Chief State Health Inspector Associate Professor Angel Kunchev told a briefing on December 2.
“There will be people who say that they do not believe in these vaccines and do not want to be immunised,” Kunchev said. “There are clear rules in epidemiology that if 60 to 70 per cent of the population is not immunised, then public health is not protected, only the individual who is immunised.”
Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said that a national vaccination plan would be developed by December 3.
A co-ordination council is being set up to organise the immunisation campaign.
It will be headed by Professor Krassimir Gigov, director-general of the Bulgarian Red Cross and chief co-ordinator of the expert council on emergency medical treatment.
Freezers for the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, will arrive in the coming days, the briefing was told.
Angelov said that there would be four, two in Sofia and two at the regional health inspectorate in Bourgas. In the future, freezers would be provided to all regional health inspectorates in the country, he said.
Every Bulgarian citizen will have access to the same vaccines that European citizens have access to, Angelov said.
Everyone will sign an informed consent before vaccination.
“Vaccines will be voluntary. Anyone who wants to be vaccinated will have the opportunity to do so. They will be absolutely free of charge,” Angelov said.
Bulgaria’s Parliament is being asked, at its sitting on December 3, to approve the participation of Bulgaria in the contracts concluded by the European Commission with pharmaceutical manufacters AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech and a preliminary agreement with Janssen Pharmaeutica on the purchase of vaccines against Covid-19.
The December 2 briefing was held to announce that Bulgaria’s Cabinet had adopted a national pandemic preparedness plan. The plan is meant to cover all possible pandemics, not just Covid-19. The plan’s main goals are to reduce morbidity and reduce mortality, provide treatment for the ill and provide information to the public, the briefing was told.
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.
For as little as three euro a month or the equivalent in other currencies, you can support The Sofia Globe via patreon.com and get access to exclusive subscriber-only content:
