site.btaSecond Stage of Vaccination Starts This Week in Plovdiv, Bourgas

January 18 (BTA) - The second stage of the vaccination  
 rollout can begin this week in the cities of Plovdiv (South 
Central Bulgaria) and Bourgas (on the Black Sea coast), said 
Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kunchev after Monday's 
delivery of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines. There are 18,720
 doses, half of the quantity announced previously.

Bulgaria is expecting 4,000 Moderna vaccine doses next week,   
according to Bogdan Kirilov, head of the Bulgarian Drug Agency.
   He added that so far 19 side effects have been reported, all
 of them described in that vaccine's product characteristics.

A further 35,000 Pfizer vaccine doses are expected early in 
February, while Monday's reduced delivery will be made up for in
  mid-February, Kirilov said.  

According to Kunchev, it is possible to start inoculating people
 on demand in March or April.

Kunchev said that the smaller shipment on Monday was due to 
production upgrades aimed to meet growing demand. Bulgaria will
 get larger shipments in late February or March.

The second stage of vaccination can begin at care homes for the
   elderly with the lowest COVID-19 incidence and at schools
that  have made up lists of people wishing to be vaccinated. In
Sofia,   this may start in 7 to 10 days, as the number of
medical staff in the first stage of rollout is much larger, and
 only half of those willing have got the shot.

Kunchev assured that there are enough doses for the second  shot
 of early vaccine takers.

In his words, if there are enough vaccines, the second stage can
 be rolled out in Sofia, too. Monday's delivery will be used for
 vaccine takers in either stage of the process, but the  second
stage will only be launched in regions where the first  one is
complete, he explained.

About 2,000 vaccines will be needed for the people operating the
  mobile polling stations in the April 4 parliamentary
elections.  Kunchev said the election campaign must comply with
the rules  mandated by the Health Minister: social distancing,
face masks  and disinfection.

***

Prof. Ventsislav Moutafchiiski, head of the national coronavirus
 task force and of the Military Medical Academy, and colleagues
of his received their second shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech 
vaccine on Monday.

He proposed to the national vaccination task force that the 
vaccination centres in the big hospitals set up mobile teams and
 extend working hours until 10 pm so as to cover everyone  
willing to get inoculated once the mass vaccination begins.

The Military Medical Academy has a large hall where the 
vaccination will be carried out, and another two could be made
available, he said. A total of 717 employees in the military
hospital's structures have been inoculated thus far, including
more than 400 in Sofia.

***

After getting the second shot of a COVID-19 vaccine at Sofia's 
Alexandrovska Hospital, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said 
that Bulgaria has placed orders for all types of COVID-19 
vaccine, regardless of the manufacturer or special interests.

Bulgaria has not given preference to the AstraZeneca vaccine, 
said Angelov. He explained that the number of vaccine doses is 
negotiated by the European Commission, not by Bulgaria, and that
 Sofia has ordered roughly the same quantities of all three 
vaccines

Angelov refuted the rumour that Bulgaria has not ordered enough
 vaccines for all people, circulated by representatives of 
various political parties, mostly by the opposition. He 
explained that Bulgaria has never made a political decision
about the number and deliveries of vaccines, and called on
everyone to refrain from using them as a political gimmick.

Commenting on calls for relaxation of the restrictions, he said:
  "We should not let impatience do us a bad turn."

"Our priorities have changed, and now they are: education, 
healthcare, sports. Restaurants and hotels are surely an 
important branch, but they are not our priority at the moment,"
 Angelov said.

The voting protocol for the upcoming elections will be presented
  45 days before election day, April 4, said Angelov, assuring
that vaccines will be provided for the people operating the 
mobile polling stations.

Later in the day, Angelov, Education and Science Minister
Krassimir Valchev and the Chief Health Inspector met with trade
unions and employer organizations in education to discuss the
vaccination of teachers.

Teachers in some population centres are expected to get the
first shot later this week, said Dr Yulian Petrov, President of
the Education Trade Union affiliated with the Podkrepa
Confederation of Labour. Some 20,000 teachers are willing to be
vaccinated but more teaching and other school staff can be added
 to the lists, he said. Some 5,000 teaching staff in academia
are also willing to be vaccinated.

Free voluntary antigen testing will be available to teachers as
of January 25. Those who have had COVID-19 will not be tested
but can get a vaccine. RI,NV/MT, DS, DD