Bulgaria: Vaccination Plan to Be Changed Owing to Elections

Elections | January 29, 2021, Friday // 13:57|  views

Bulgaria‘s vaccination plan will be amended and the third phase will include all participants in the electoral process – the members of the electoral commissions in constituencies, the mobile electoral commissions, the members of the regional health inspectorates and the Central Electoral Commission. This was reported by Minister of Health Kostadin Angelov during the working meeting of the Council of Ministers convened by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Already on Wednesday, Minister Angelov promised to table the necessary amendments to the government meeting. Members of the sectoral commissions who will be be sent to elections abroad will also be vaccinated.

"The experts propose that all participants in the election process to be vaccinated if they want to. We will provide a sufficient amount of the necessary vaccines and they will be vaccinated", said Minister Angelov. He added that with regard to the instructions for the implementation of the electoral process, the protocol has been drawn up and its expert discussion continues.

"Our ambition is to give a chance for vaccination to the entire electoral administration, to those who wish to be vaccinated, as we are talking about over 80,000 people", said Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev. "In compliance with the existing Eectoral Code and in cooperation with the CEC, we are looking for additional opportunities to ensure even more transparent  electoral process in Bulgaria," added Donchev.

He reminded that all political forces have their representatives in electoral administration and these are not people who are part of the civil service. Also in Bulgaria, every protocol of the CEC is publicly available, he said. "But we are looking for an opportunity, given the current legislation, to ensure additional transparency of the electoral process.

In addition, anyone who is willing – be it a member of an international organization or an NGO in Bulgaria – has the right to participate as an observer in the electoral process. The more observers, the better", said Donchev, adding that having more impartial parties to monitor the electoral process will be an additional argument that the elections reflect the will of the people.

  "The transparency of elections is extremely important and therefore see to it that not only CEC members, but also all those who voluntarily and freely wish to sit on in the sectoral electoral commissions to be vaccinated", Borissov pointed out.

Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva reported that so far the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received consent from 33 countries to open polling stations in places where concentration of the Bulgarian population is high.

Zaharieva explained that all necessary efforts are being made to ensure the process of voting abroad for Bulgarian citizens during the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working in coordination with the members of the CEC.

  "We have already submitted a request for the opening of polling stations with the exact date of the vote in all countries where we have embassies or accredited ambassadors", added Zaharieva. She also said that efforts are being made not to open fewer polling stations than in previous elections.

  "After talks with the Ministry of Health, we have also provided funding for the protection gear for members of sectoral polling stations abroad, for disinfection, and where necessary for screens, because somewhere there will be a requirement from the respective state authorities for plastic screens," Zaharieva said. She stressed that since the day of the vote falls on April 4, when it is Catholic and Protestant Easter, there are concerns in the Foreign Ministry because of additional difficulties that may arise due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

Minister Angelov confirmed that all vaccine doses that have been received in Bulgaria have been administered, as the second dose for the completion of immunization program is being kept in reserve thus ensuring full vaccination cycle. "The number of vaccines we receive as well as their price have been agreed by the EC and the guarantor is the European Medicines Agency.

There is no delay in vaccinations, not even for a day. As much as the EC has sent us, all shipment have arrived in Bulgaria", said Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. He reminded that the National Assembly ratified the request for the EC to hold tenders for all Member States and then, on a quota basis, to send out the vaccines to the respective counties.

The CEO of the Bulgarian Drug Agency Bogdan Kirilov reported that Bulgaria will have 18 million doses of vaccines under all contracts that the European Commission concludes with producer companies.

"If five of the companies get marketing authorisation, it will allow Bulgaria to vaccinate up to 2.5 million people by end-June", explained Kirilov. Today, the European Commission's stand on the use of the third vaccine– that of Oxford – is expected, which will let us step-up the vaccination process, he said.

 

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Tags: Bulgaria, elections, vaccination plan

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