site.bta400,000+ People Over 60 Vaccinated against COVID in One Month - Health Minister

June 15 (BTA) - A total of 427,816 people over 60 were vaccinated against COVID between May 11 and June 10, compared to 454,352 in the year to May 11, according to a summary of a report by caretaker Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov available on his Ministry's website.

On Tuesday, the caretaker government led by Stefan Yanev reported on its performance in the month since it took office.

Katsarov's report says that until May 11, the elderly and people with serious diseases were not considered a priority in the COVID vaccination plan. This, according to the report, is one of the reasons for the high COVID mortality rate at the start of the year.

The report also says that the scandals accompanying the purchase of vaccines, the chaotic decisions in the management of the coronavirus crisis, including the decisions regarding vaccinations, have engendered a negative attitude towards inoculations.

The report goes on to list other coronavirus-related problems and omissions.

There have been more than 5,000 incorrectly issued vaccination certificates, with no procedure for rectification of errors. Such a procedure has already been put in place.

Medical statistical information was not collected systematically. There are many gaps in such data, including rough estimates of the number of people who have encountered the virus. Bulgaria is the EU Member State with the lowest number of COVID tests performed. The number of lethal outcomes from COVID in Bulgaria is twice the average in the EU.

A working group has been set up, comprising representatives of 17 expert medical boards, to draw up a unified national protocol for COVID diagnosis and outpatient treatment.

The report notes that more than half of the funding planned in the previous version of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan targeted buildings insulation and construction works. A new section on healthcare has been drawn up in the meantime, with a focus on healthcare digitization, telemedicine, innovations and new technologies.

Checks are underway on the procedures for purchase of personal protective equipment, ventilators and medicines during the period of epidemic emergency, from May 13, 2020 to date. The preliminary results show that a big portion of the procedures were held in a non-transparent manner. Too many ventilators were purchased without a call for tender and at above-market prices. Some of the ventilators were delivered without their full equipment and without warranty. The checks continue. RY/ZH