site.btaBulgaria Temporarily Suspends Use of AstraZeneca Vaccine

Plovdiv, South Central Bulgaria, March 12 (BTA) - Inoculations against COVID-19 with the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in Bulgaria are temporarily suspended as a preventive measure, Health Minister Kosdatin Angelov told reporters here on Friday. He said that a 57-year-old woman from the south-central village of Yoakim Gruevo died at home on Thursday night after she got a jab from this vaccine earlier in the day. The Minister noted that a final decision on how to proceed with the inoculations with AstraZeneca will be taken after the medical examiners determine the cause of the woman's death.

Angelov specified that the woman had many health issues and surgeries, and was obese. She experienced acute shortness of breath. No blood clots were found after her death, he addedd.

Pathology professor Pavel Timonov said the likely cause of the death was acute heart failure with a severe pulmonary edema, against the backdrop of severe atherosclerosis and heart problems.

The Health Minister also said that there is no cause for concern for those who have already received the AstraZeneca vaccine. He was adamant that no cause-and-effect link has been established between the woman's immunization and her death.

It also transpired from his remarks that the vaccine the deceased patient receive was not from the AstraZeneca batch whose use has been suspended in other EU countries.

The vaccine's unwanted side effects occur in around 3 out of 1,000 persons and are standard ones after inoculation, Angelov said.

The 800,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that arrived on Friday will be stored at a warehouses of BB - NCIPD Ltd and will be administered only after the Bulgarian Drug Agency makes a decision on the matter, he said.

Earlier on Friday, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov ordered suspension of vaccinations with the AstraZeneca jab until the receipt of a written statement from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) rejecting all doubts as to its safety. "Until an accurate and clear diagnosis whether or not the AstraZeneca vaccine can be administered is received in writing from EMA, you are to suspend vaccinations with the jab," Borissov said at a working meeting of the government and the health authorities, as quoted by the government press office. He added that the inoculation plan with the other
two approved vaccines goes on.

Health Minister Kostadin Angelov told reporters that the electronic registration for immunization against COVID-19 will be closed until the situation with the AstraZeneca vaccine is cleared. People who have already registered online will receive notifications and will automatically be moved to a later date.

The vaccination campaign in Bulgaria continues with the available doses of Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which are very limited in number, Angelov said. Only 193,000 Prizer doses out of the ordered 3.9 million doses have arrived thus far, and Bulgaria has received far fewer that the expected 1 million Moderna doses.

Doses of the Janssen vaccine might arrive in Bulgaria by mid-April, Angelov also said.

COVID-19, Businesses, Tourists and Schools

During the meeting Borissov also asked that a plan be drawn up "in a matter of days" determining health requirement criteria for tourist arrivals to Bulgaria during the coming tourist season.

The Prime Minister noted that resources have been provided to continue the Government's job retention measures popularly known as 60/40, 75/0, and 80/20 (indicating the ratio of the government's and the employers' payments towards businesses' wage bill) until the end of May. Also, support for parents caring for children who have online schooling has been guaranteed as well until the end of May.

Labour and Social Policy Minister Denitsa Sacheva said that 40 million leva have so far been paid out to closed businesses under the measure called "Keep Me".

Health Minister Angelov noted the increasing COVID-19 incidence among children and young people.

Education and Science Minister Krassimir Valchev said that a rapid spread of the infection in schools has been reported over the past few days. He also said that recommendations have been made to local coronavirus task forces to order switching to online schooling for at least two weeks for grades 5 to 12 in the regions with high infections incidence.

Borissov commented that a local approach is used "not because we are afraid to take a decision centrally" but because there are cities and places where there are fewer infections "so that it is pointless to put everyone under a common denominator". RY, RI/ZH, DS







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