Bulgaria ready to provide up to 150 000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries
Bulgaria is ready to provide up to 150 000 doses of vaccines against Covid-19 to neighbouring countries, caretaker Health Minister Stoicho Katsarov told a news conference on June 3.
Bulgaria has received requests from Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for support with vaccines, he said.
Katsarov said that the procedure is complex and requires co-ordination with the European Commission and the manufacturers, regardless of whether the procedure will be a donation or a sale.
“Our desire is to help. This is help we can afford, a gesture of goodwill. Bulgaria’s needs are fully met and we have no reason to worry about a shortage of vaccines by the end of the year,” he said.
Katsarov said that the only way to avoid a further wave of Covid-19 is vaccination.
“We have all witnessed that neither masks nor distance can prevent it. However, immunisation can,” he said.
He pointed to specific examples: “This can be seen in the United States, in the United Kingdom, in Denmark. In Israel, a large part of its population has been vaccinated and there is a sharp decline in the prevalence of Covid-19, as well as mortality. This is the objective evidence.”
Good enough organisation had been created in Bulgaria to vaccinate more people, especially the elderly, Katsarov said. He said that this was the way to reduce mortality and repeal anti-epidemic measures.
He said that to date, two billion people had already been vaccinated against Covid-19 worldwide.
In essence, this could be read as one of the largest clinical trials, showing that the side effects of vaccination are negligible compared to the benefits of vaccines.
“Let’s make the conversation about vaccination more rational, remove prejudices and stigmas and trust the facts,” Katsarov said.
He said that he had contracted Covid-19 severely in December, but planned to be vaccinated soon.
(Photo: Ministry of Health)
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