Bulgaria receives new delivery of the AstraZeneca vaccine

52,800 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have arrived in Bulgaria on Sunday morning. The vaccines will be distributed to the regional health inspectorates, the Chairman of the National Vaccination Headquarters Professor Krasimir Gigov announced. At the end of next week, 80,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine are expected to be delivered to Bulgaria. Thus, people will be able to get their second dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The second dose is guaranteed for those who already received their first shot of the Pfizer/BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, assured Bogdan Kirilov, Executive Director of the Bulgarian Drug Agency. 21,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines are expected on March 1.

GPs queue up in front of the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate for Covid-19 vaccines

General practitioners wearing ice bags queued up in front of the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate on Sunday morning to receive vaccines for their patients aged 65 and above. Each GP will receive 30 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine that arrived in Bulgaria earlier today, announced Dancho Penchev, Director of the Sofia Regional Health Inspectorate. 52,800 doses of the Oxford vaccine were distributed to 28 regional health inspectorates in Bulgaria. Half of them will be given to general practitioners. The other half will be sent to the vaccination offices in this country.

Premier Borissov: Bulgaria should resume the “green corridor” vaccination scheme

All people who are waiting to get vaccinated against Covid-19 should benefit from the so-called "green corridor" vaccination scheme, Bulgaria’s Premier Boyko Borissov told this country’s Minister of Health Professor Kostadin Angelov during a visit to the children’s ward in Pirogov Emergency Hospital. “21,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine are expected on March 1. They must be kept for the members of the sectional election commissions and the regional election commissions”, Boyko Borissov went on to say.

Bulgaria to adopt new anti-epidemic measures if the situation gets out of hand

It is not dangerous to go to a restaurant, but I am not sure whether people will observe the existing anti-epidemic measures, Bulgaria’s Chief State Health Inspector Associate Professor Angel Kunchev told the Bulgarian National Radio on occasion of Bulgaria's decision to reopen the restaurants on March 1. Covid-19 morbidity has increased, but the growth rate is still low, which enables us to relax the anti-epidemic measures, commented Dr. Angel Kunchev. Bulgaria is to tighten the measures again, if the situation gets out of hand, warned Associate Professor Kunchev. In his words, the latest increase in the number of Covid-19 cases is mainly due to the new coronavirus variant. 

Bulgaria reports 1,079 new cases of Covid-19 out of 8,476 tests performed

1,079 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours out of 8,476 tests performed, indicate data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal. Nearly 13% of the tests have returned positive result. The highest number of new infections was reported in Sofia-322, followed by Burgas-148 and Plovdiv-70. 1,643 people have recovered and 39 patients have died in the past 24 hours. There are 4,674 patients in hospital as 380 of them are in intensive care units. There are 31,402 active cases of Covid-19. Yesterday, 5,321 people were vaccinated against Covid-19. The total number of inoculations in this country reached 209,760.So far, 246,706 cases of Covid-19 have been registered in Bulgaria. 10,167 people have died since the beginning of the pandemic.

Bulgaria calls on Greece to suspend coronavirus testing of truck drivers

On a recommendation of Bulgaria’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva, this country‘s Ambassador to Greece Valentin Poriazov has requested an explanation from the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection and the Greek Border Police regarding the introduction of coronavirus testing for truck drivers at the Greece-Bulgaria border. Ambassador Poriazov insists that the Greek authorities immediately suspend the coronavirus testing of drivers of cargo vehicles, because it contradicts the European regulations. The Greek authorities have accepted Bulgaria's arguments and promised to solve the problem.

Iliana Yotova calls the cancellation of Shipka Peak celebrations a “cynicism”

Bulgaria’s Vice President Iliana Yotova called the decision of the Bulgarian authorities to cancel the Shipka Peak celebrations on March 3 a “cynicism”. The Liberation Day celebrations on Shipka Peak were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. "We should be able to celebrate the Liberation Day on Shipka Peak, where it is possible to maintain physical distance. The restaurants in Bulgaria are reopening against the backdrop of the decision of the authorities to cancel the Shipka Peak celebrations." Iliana Yotova told BNT. Bulgaria’s Vice President Yotova also criticized this country’s vaccination plan. Why do we need to launch a “green corridor” walk-in scheme, if we have a national vaccination plan, asked Vice-President Yotova. In her view, Bulgaria is facing two very important issues - how to address climate change and how to fight poverty and inequality. 

Compiled by Diana Tsankova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

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