Bulgaria’s Health Ministry approves second booster against Covid-19 for over-18s
Bulgaria’s Ministry of Health said on June 24 that it had approved the recommendations of an expert council regarding administering a fourth dose – meaning, a second booster – of mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 for everyone over 18 who wants one.
The second booster dose can be given at least four months after the first booster to people who have completed a vaccination course with a two-dose vaccine, the Health Ministry said.
The second booster dose of mRNA vaccine is highly recommended for seven categories of individuals 18 years of age and older, the ministry said.
The categories are people who are immunocompromised; transplant patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy; chronic dialysis patients; patients with oncohaematological diseases; residents and staff of social institutions providing long-term care for the elderly; Medical professionals involved in the treatment of patients with Covid-19; and elderly people, meaning those 65 and older.
The ministry said that the opinion of its expert council was in line with the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to enable at-risk individuals to receive a fourth dose (second booster) of the mRNA vaccine against Covid-19.
A second booster vaccine against Covid-19 can be given at regional health inspectorates’ vaccination centres, general practitioners’ offices, as well as in inpatient and outpatient care facilities.
As June 27, the National Immunisation Register – part of the National Health Information System – will allow the introduction of a second booster mRNA vaccine, and citizens will also receive a vaccination certificate.
Bulgaria’s state-owned IT company state-owned Informatsionno Obsluzhvane is already working on adapting the functionalities of the system, the Health Ministry said.
The certificate will be identical to the one for the first booster dose, with the exception of the serial number of the administered vaccine – for the second booster vaccine the certificate will say “4/4”.
This certificate, as well as the certificate for the first booster vaccine, will have no expiry date, unless European regulations provide otherwise, the ministry said.
(Photo: Bulgaria’s Military Medical Academy)
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