Health Minister Katsarov after Booster Dose: Vaccines are Safe and Effective

Health | December 9, 2021, Thursday // 17:16|  views

mh.government.bg

"Over 90% of the victims of COVID-19 in our Bulgaria are elderly unvaccinated citizens. It is normal when launching a new product, such as Covid-19 vaccines, that every doctor wants indisputable evidence of its safety and effectiveness. One year later, we have no reason to doubt. More than 7 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine have already been given worldwide, and less than 1 in 1 million cases of severe side effects. Vaccines are highly effective - in over 90% of cases they guarantee a mild course of the disease. They really save lives." This was stated by the Minister of Health Dr. Stoycho Katsarov after he was given a booster dose of vaccine against coronavirus infection.

On the occasion of the upcoming Christmas holidays, the Minister appealed: "Follow the requirements of the" green certificate ", get vaccinated, if you have not already done so, put on a booster dose, wear masks where the environment is more risky, respect the restrictions. Save your life and that of your loved ones! ”

Dr. Katsarov commented that the government spends tens of millions every month on drugs and hospital care in a pandemic, but vaccinations against coronavirus infection are the surest way to prevent severe disease and death. We do not need to risk our health and give so much money once we have reliable protection for vaccines, at a much lower cost. The Minister of Health pointed out that he himself already has triple protection, because he has been ill, vaccinated, and as of today has a booster dose.

As of December 9, nearly 3.5 million doses have been administered in Bulgaria, and over 1.8 million people have completed a vaccination course, said Dr. Katsarov. He also commented that the introduction of the "green certificate" has contributed to increasing interest in vaccination in the country, as the number of vaccines given on a weekly basis has quadrupled compared to the summer.

In connection with the new version of SARS-CoV-2 - Omicron, Minister Katsarov reminded that the National Center for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases has already been allocated additional funds for sequencing of samples. "Omicron has not yet been identified in our country, but the known variants of the virus have not passed us by, so there is no reason to think that this will happen now. All necessary measures have been taken - when the new option appeared in South Africa, we had already banned entry from these countries," said the Minister of Health.

He also commented on the testing of students, noting that unlike previous epidemics, when a child came out with a positive result and this was the reason for quarantining entire classes, sparing tests allow children with COVID-19 to be sent for examination and to avoid quarantine entire classes. Testing also helps limit the spread of the virus, as evidenced by the fact that children have returned to school, but the number of those infected continues to decline.

The government has allocated money to the Ministry of Health for the purchase of 1.5 million child-friendly tests. Thanks to transparent procedures, we managed to achieve extremely low prices and buy three times more tests - over 4.7 million tests. There have been some delays in delivery for objective reasons - half of Europe is at the peak of an epidemic, a number of countries are in lockdown, demand for these tests is growing many times, delivery is difficult, so there was some delay, but now everything is fine. The tests are provided at least until the middle of January, according to my rough calculations, so the learning process can continue in peace. The Ministry of Education and Science is doing well with the organization, there is no reason to worry," added Dr. Katsarov.

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Tags: covid, Katsarov, health, vaccine

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