site.btaGovernment Approves BGN 1,000,000 for Pertussis Vaccines

The Council of Ministers approved additional expenditures under the budget of the Health Ministry for 2024 in the amount of BGN 1,000,000. The funds are earmarked for the purchase of vaccines for the free immunization against pertussis of pregnant women between the 27th and 36th gestational week of pregnancy, the organization of the immunization process, the opening of immunization clinics and the provision of laboratory diagnostics for pertussis due to the ongoing epidemic spread of the disease in Bulgaria. 

As of April 2024, pertussis immunization of pregnant women has been introduced in 22 EU Member States. The provision of vaccines for pregnant women in Bulgaria will help to harmonize immunization practices across the EU, especially in the context of an epidemic of a vaccine-preventable disease, and to avoid creating discriminatory conditions for access to preventive care. 

The immunization of pregnant women will result in protection of newborns, who are at greatest risk of complications, hospitalization and death, from pertussis in infancy until they reach the age of coverage with mandatory routine immunization (from 6 weeks of age), through passive immunity acquired transplacentally from the mother. 

The possibility of laboratory diagnosis of pertussis in the country is also being expanded, with tests of clinical samples taken from patients under certain criteria to be conducted in Varna, Plovdiv, Pleven, Sofia and Stara Zagora.