Benefits of coronavirus vaccines outweigh risks

Even those who have recovered from coronavirus should be vaccinated,Prof. Krassimir Gigov, head of the Vaccine Task Force,has told BNR. "The risk of not getting the vaccine is much greater than the benefit. Today we have methods that can assess the effectiveness and toxicity of a vaccine much faster. Science has been constantly progressing. No company would afford to launch a risky product. Let's believe in science," Prof. Gigov said. He added that the first 125,000 doses will be for people working in critical sectors. The vaccines are expected to arrive in late December and vaccination will start in early 2021.

Up to 25% decline of new Covid-19 cases in Sofia

By December 20 we will know if gatherings of 2-3 families for the holidays would be possible. This is what director of the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases Prof. Todor Kantardzhiev has told BNT. He reported that for the past 14 days there has been a 20-25% reduction in new cases of coronavirus in Sofia. According to him, 10 people now infect 7 to 9 new patients. According to Kantardzhiev, despite the fact the state was spending huge resources to ensure vaccination against Covid-19, doubts in society about vaccination existed. According to the expert, the new vaccines would not be harmful even to people over 70 years of age. He assessed the Russian vaccine as very good, because Russia has traditions in this area.

34% of PCR tests in past day return positive result for Covid-19

Newly registered patients with Covid-19 according to the Coronavirus Information Portal are 2037. 34% out of a total of 5986 PCR tests were positive. The biggest number of newly infected is in Sofia - 389, followed by Varna - with 287 and Burgas - 182 new cases. 95 of the newly registered patients in the past 24 hours are medical personnel. The confirmed cases in this country have already reached a total of 160,844. A total of 95,442 cases are active and 6,959 patients are in hospital. 516 people are in intensive care wards. 996 have recovered for the past 24 hours and 79 passed away.

It is not coronavirus that is variable, but immune response to it

As coronavirus morbidity increased, it has become clear how diverse and wide-ranging human complaints were. "This suggests that perhaps the virus is not so changeable, but the immune response to it is diverse," pulmonologist Dr. Alexander Simidchiev has told the BNR. "The first doses of vaccine will not be enough to vaccinate everyone who wants. Those who have doubts will see the effect of the vaccine," he said. "I am not optimistic that the pandemic will suddenly disappear. We will deal with it the way we deal with other chronic diseases, which require time and focused efforts from all of us as a society,” Simidchiev added.

Persons under quarantine cannot vote

According to the Electoral Code, mobile ballot boxes would not allow for quarantined people to vote, Alexander Andreev, chairman of the Central Election Commission - CEC, has told BNR. According to him, the turnout could not be predicted because of the pandemic. Quarantined voters are not banned from voting and parliament must consider changes to the Electoral Code to resolve the case, the CEC headadded. "Elections during a pandemic are a challenge. Measures are needed to allow the elections to take place and to limit the possibility of infection," Andreev said. He has also called for a riseof the salaries of the members of the sectional election commissions.

Anti-crisis measures to continue in 2021

By the end of the year and the beginning of 2021, we will have more funds to invest in business, Minister of Economy Lachezar Borisov has told BNR. "The resource is not small and measures will continue throughout the next year. Preliminary data for the third quarter show that investments are beginning to send good signals for GDP recovery,” Borisov added. According to macroeconomic indicators, Bulgaria has been coping with the pandemic crisis 50% better than the EU average. "In terms of debt and deficit we will be better than a number of countries in the European Union. The banking sector has lower profits, but big enough to keep buffers and stay stable,” Borissov pointed out.

On Student's Day town of Sapareva Banya closes guest houses

Sapareva Banya Municipality has warned each of the guest houses in the resort town not to accept visitors for the Student's Day, celebrated in Bulgaria on December 8, Acting Mayor Slavcho Kolarski said. He has replaced the incumbent mayor Kalin Gelev, who is in hospital with coronavirus infection. Every December 8, the resort town, the nearby resort of Panichishte and the Seven Rila Lakes are preferred by students for celebrations. Because of the coronavirus emergency situation, groups of people will not be allowed to stay and celebrate, Kolarski said. The regional police directorate in Kyustendil has called for the anti-epidemic measures to be observed and added there must be no gatherings of students in the huts and recreation centers in the mountains.

Compiled by: Ivo Ivanov

English: Alexander Markov

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