Bulgaria’s government: ‘Anti-epidemic measures are yielding results’

The anti-epidemic measures in Bulgaria are working and no part of the country remains a red zone for Covid-19 morbidity, it was reported at a December 24 meeting between Prime Minister Boiko Borissov and senior health officials, a government statement said.

The statement said that 16 000 patients had recovered in the past seven days, with 8500 in the past four days, while the number of those infected was close to half those who recovered.

Vaccination against Covid-19 will start on December 27 in Sofia, Plovdiv and Bourgas, and from December 28 will expand to other district capitals.

Vaccination will be voluntary and free-of-charge, and will start with Health Minister Kostadin Angelov, hospital directors, and front-line doctors and other medical professionals.

Borissov said that the situation must continue to be monitored constantly, and he expressed the hope that with the vaccinations, Bulgaria could emerge from the pandemic by the end of next year.

Angelov told the meeting that Bulgaria now ranks third in Covid-19 mortality and 17th in morbidity in the European Union-European Economic Area.

There was a steady downward trend in morbidity in Bulgaria, he said. Morbidity was now at a rate of less than 500 per 100 000 population, Angelov said.

The head of the Medicines Agency, Bogdan Kirilov, said that the first vaccine delivery to Bulgaria was expected to be on December 26.

Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kunchev said that more than 60 000 doses of vaccine against Covid-19 were expected to arrive in early January.

This would make it possible to very quickly increase the number of people who would be immunised, he said. After the health workers, vaccinations at homes for the elderly and people with mental disabilities would begin, Kunchev said.

The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.

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