Bulgaria: Election staff to get Covid-19 vaccinations in phase 3 of plan
Officials involved in Bulgaria’s April 4 2021 parliamentary elections will get Covid-19 vaccinations in the third phase of the national vaccination plan, which will be amended to enable this, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said on January 29.
Those to be eligible will include members of the sectional election commissions, mobile election commissions, of district election commissions and the Central Election Commission.
Members of sectional election commissions who will be sent to serve at Bulgaria’s polling stations abroad will also be eligible for vaccinations.
Angelov made the announcement at a meeting convened at the Cabinet building by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov.
As is general policy, the vaccinations will be voluntary.
“We will provide a sufficient amount of the necessary vaccines and they will be vaccinated,” Angelov said.
He said that the Health Ministry’s instructions for the conduct of the election process had been prepared and was being discussed by experts.
Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev told the meeting that the ambition was for the entire election administration, more than 8000 people, to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said that so far the ministry had received consent from 33 countries for the opening of polling stations for Bulgaria’s April parliamentary elections.
“After talks with the Ministry of Health, we have provided funding for protective equipment for members of polling stations abroad, for disinfection, and where necessary, for screens, because in some places there will be a requirement from the country for Plexiglas screens,” Zaharieva said.
The fact that the election is being held on April 4, which in 2021 is Easter for Roman Catholics and Protestants, had caused concerns at the Foreign Ministry due to additional difficulties that may arise due to restrictions because of Covid-19, said Zaharieva, who earlier warned that there could be heightened restrictions in the EU at the time of the Western Easter.
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