Covid-19 in Bulgaria: Day 337

published on 2/7/21 5:14 PM

Photo: BGNES

Bulgaria reports highest number of new cases in Sofia, Burgas and Pazardzhik

Bulgaria has registered a total of 493 new cases of Covid-19, which is a little over 8% of the 5,733 tests performed in the past 24 hours. The new cases among medical staff are 12.

There are currently 3,133 patients with Covid-19 in hospitals, of which 281 are in intensive care units. 161 people recovered and 9 patients died.

The highest number of new infections is registered in Sofia, Burgas and Pazardzhik.

156 people were vaccinated yesterday and with them the total number of vaccinations administered until today exceeds 57,000. Of them, the persons immunized with the second dose of the vaccine are 30.5%.

Bulgaria starts first inoculations with the AstraZeneca vaccine

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca will be administered to medical professionals, law enforcement officials and employees of national security agencies in Bulgaria. The first doses of the vaccine arrived in Bulgaria late on Saturday night as the official information is that there are no restrictions to its administering.

The AstraZeneca vaccine can be administered to people over the age of 18, said Bogdan Kirilov, executive director of the Bulgarian Drug Agency. In clinical trials, participants over the age of 55 were a smaller number, which does not allow for making an assessment of its effectiveness. Kirilov pointed out that a study was done for this age group on the basis of immune response and safety, and no differences were reported compared to the other groups. According to him, this enables the experts of the European Medicines Agency to give a recommendation for the administration of the vaccine.

Dr. Asen Baltov: Number of vaccinations might go up

The AstraZeneca vaccine requires storage in an ordinary refrigerator between two and eight degrees, which will facilitate its faster spread in Bulgaria. According to Dr. Asen Baltov, director of the Pirogov Emergency Treatment Hospital in Sofia, another 300,000 doses are expected to arrive within the next four weeks.

According to Baltov, if Bulgaria's Vaccine Task Force makes a decision and the minister approves it, all the received doses will be fully used within the next two weeks.

Pirogov's director hopes that GPs will be included in the immunization process so that more people can be reached.

School principals insist on autonomy in decisions on in-person learning

A survey of 233 schools in the country, conducted by the Amalipe Centre for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance, shows that school principals are pushing for autonomy in making decisions about pupils returning to school. According to the respondents, in-person training should be determined depending on the number of students, the morbidity in the region and the possibilities for organizing and observing the anti-epidemic measures.

In a survey conducted from February 1st to 3rd, nearly two-thirds of the participating schools are from rural areas, where students are less than 200. In addition, the buildings are large and anti-epidemic measures are observed. Therefore, school principals insist on allowing a differentiated approach in places where the incidence of Covid-19 is much lower.

Compiled by Darina Grigorova

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