Kindergartens and nurseries in Bulgaria reopen

On the first working day of the new year, kindergartens and nurseries reopened and primary school students in Bulgaria have switched again to in-class learning. All 194 kindergartens and 24 nurseries in Sofia opened today, the Sofia Municipality has announced. On the first day after the Covid-19 vacation, a total of 26,200 children visited the kindergartens, which is just under 60% of their capacity, BTA reported. Parents who want to keep their children at home have the right to do so. Pupils from 1st to 4th grade studying in 175 municipal schools in Sofia have also returned to school today.

Return of students in higher grade to school is being discussed

Second shipment of 25,000 coronavirus vaccines arrives in Bulgaria

An airplane transporting the second shipment of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines has landed at Sofia airport. The shipment of 25,000 doses will be distributed around the country. Another 35,000 doses are expected in mid-January. Vaccinations are administered in Bulgaria voluntarily and are free of charge. It is the ambition of the health authorizes to have at least 70% of the population vaccinated, the BTA reports. “Mass vaccinations will begin when we have a big enough arsenal of vaccines,”said Minister of Health Kostadin Angelov for Nova TV. “The second phase of vaccination will begin within a week and will spread to teachers, social services users and staff.” 

Only 4 instances of adverse effects after vaccination reported in Bulgaria

“The Bulgarian vaccination plan is looking good, and is planned to spread to important groups,”Assoc. Prof. Mihail Okoliiski, World Health Organization expert said. “Interest in getting vaccinated is going up with every passing day because the benefits are there to be seen. In this respect, the Minister of Health has done a lot.” “With almost 5,000 vaccinations performed, only 4 instances of adverse effects have been reported,” Bogdan Kirilov, head of the Bulgarian Drug Agency said for the BTA. “These are pain, dizziness for about 15 minutes, pain at the injection site and running a fever for several hours, then they all abate,” Bogdan Kirilov said. 

6.4% newly registered Covid-19 cases out of 2,660 tests performed

171 is the number of new Covid-19 cases out of 2,660 tests performed over the past 24 hours,according to data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal. Contrary to the tendency in past days, more new cases was registered using rapid antigen tests – 99 than using PCR tests - 72 - even though more tests were performed using the PCR method. The number of active coronavirus cases is 72, 962. 4,689 Covid-19 patients remain hospitalized, of whom 453 are in intensive care. 34 have died in the past 24 hours, and 944 have recovered. No vaccinations have been performed in the past 24 hours. 

Bulgarian economy to return to pre-crisis levels next year

The Bulgarian economy will start growing after the crisis, but this will happen next year at the earliest. The worst consequence of the pandemic is deferred consumption. Because of it in 2020 the state budget did not receive more than 500 million euros, according to the Bulgarian Industrial Association. The mass vaccination against Covid-19 is expected to accelerate economic recovery. Pre-crisis levels of Bulgarian GDP are expected to be reached in 2022, but the first signs of economic recovery in production are already visible, and the vaccine against Covid-19 gives optimism, chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Association Radosvet Radev said.

2,700 traders call for working capital support because of Covid-19

So far, nearly 2,700 traders have requested working capital support through the National Revenue Agency. Under this scheme, traders affected by anti-epidemic measures due to the spread of Covid-19 can receive 20% or 10% of their turnover for periods of 2019 or 2020. Payments may begin after obtaining approval from the European Commission, which is expected in the coming weeks, according to the NRA.

Compiled by: Ioan Kolev

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