Bulgaria: More than 2 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccines will be Discarded

Over 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Bulgaria will be scrapped. They expired last year. It is possible that the number of vaccines for destruction is even higher, because the health inspections still report unused quantities. In this year, nearly 2 million and 800 thousand doses of vaccines expire, the interest in immunization is weak. About 215 doses of vaccines were given in the last 24 hours. Against this background, the Ministry of Health announced that over 8 million doses of vaccines will be delivered to our country this year. Some of them have already been paid. The caretaker health minister has asked Brussels to review the rules for the supply of vaccines against COVID-19.

Last month, 630 doses of vaccines against COVID-19 were administered in the Varna Region.

Dr. Krasimira Ivanova, inspector at RHI-Varna: "They mainly administer a booster dose. For the first dose, the percentage is very small, a very small number. These are people traveling abroad or companies - sailing ships, for which it is required to be officially vaccinated".

Almost all major metropolitan public hospitals have closed their COVID-19 immunization centers due to low interest in the vaccines.

Dr. Asen Medzhidiev - Acting Minister of Health: "In Bulgaria at the moment there is no vaccination process at all - it is very small. We cannot call people to be immunized. Each person according to the condition in which he is - dangerous factors accompanying diseases, they consider whether to vaccinate against COVID or not".

According to the EU's contracts with vaccine manufacturers, at the beginning of the covid pandemic, more than 8 million doses of vaccines should be delivered to us this year.

"If these vaccines are delivered to us - first they will have a short shelf life. We will have to scrap them. It is not enough that we pay for them - we also pay for scrapping them," said the acting Minister of Health.

Bulgaria is looking for opportunities to resell or donate part of the covid vaccines. The topic was also discussed at the Health Council in Brussels in December.

"We are making every effort to convince the EU not to receive such a large amount. If necessary, it should donate them to other countries," said Medzhidiev.

There is still no decision on the issue at the European level.

Follow Novinite.com on Twitter and Facebook

Write to us at editors@novinite.com

Информирайте се на Български - Novinite.bg

/BNT

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!