Kunchev: Health authorities plan to extend Bulgaria’s Covid-19 epidemic declaration by a month
Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kunchev said in a May 16 television interview that Bulgaria’s health authorities plan to extend the country’s Covid-19 epidemic declaration by a further month, to the end of June.
Bulgaria declared a State of Emergency on March 13 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This continued until May 13 2020, when it was succeeded by an epidemic declaration, which has been extended repeatedly, most recently to the end of May, a decision taken in the final weeks of the third Borissov government.
Kunchev told bTV that the “green corridors” for vaccinations against Covid-19 for all comers would remain open.
He said that the distribution of supplies of vaccines against Covid-19 to general practitioners would be made easier, by allowing them to receive supplies from diagnostic-consulting centres as well as regional health inspectorates. An order to this effect would be issued, Kunchev said.
The goal was to avoid congestion, as has happened in front of the Sofia regional health inspectorate, he said.
Kunchev said that the role of GPs in the immunisation process should be strengthened and they should receive as many vaccines as they want.
He said that this month, supplies of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had doubled, which would allow the health authorities to meet almost 100 per cent of requests from GPs, while keeping quantities for those who registered through the online system and those who went to the “green corridors” to get vaccinated.
Bulgaria’s caretaker government, which took office on May 12, has said that in about a week, it would announce details of the measures it would use against the spread of Covid-19.
Also awaited is a decision by the caretaker government whether to keep in place the national operational staff against Covid-19, headed by Major-General Ventsislav Mutafchiyski and of which Kunchev is a member.
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