Minister of Health Stoycho Katsarov has singled out three main risks for high morbidity and mortality in case of a fourth Covid-19 wave - low rate of vaccination, poor management of the crisis last year and extremely poor situation of the Bulgarian healthcare system.

"Unfortunately, this risk cannot be overcome within a month or two, because our healthcare system is severely unbalanced," he said at a hearing in the National Assembly. The Minister referred to the opinion of experts, according to which the wrong approach to vaccination has taken the lives of about 10 thousand people. "Some of these lives would have been saved if we had given priority to the elderly," Stoycho Katsarov added.

According to him, in 2020 life expectancy has decreased by a year and a half, which is a "catastrophic result." The minister reiterated that he was against mandatory vaccination against coronavirus.