Covid-19 in Bulgaria: Day 396 -

Bulgaria's vaccination authorities hold emergency meeting over AstraZeneca EMA position

Bulgaria's National Vaccination Staff met at an extraordinary meeting at the request of the Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov.

This happened after the European Medicines Agency announced today its position on the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. It states that there is a "possible link" between AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, developed in collaboration with Oxford University, and "very rare cases of abnormal blood clots" in people who have been vaccinated.

Later today, Angelov will take part in an extraordinary videoconference meeting of EU health ministers, the topic of which are vaccines against Covid-19.

Bulgaria reports 4,004 new Covid-19 cases in past day

4,004 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed for a day after 17,576 tests performed, data from the Coronavirus Information Portal show. The highest number of newly infected is in Sofia - 914, followed by Varna – 369, and Plovdiv - 334. A total of 2,759 people recovered during the past day and 132 passed away. 10,355 patients are in hospital as 755 of them are in intensive care wards. There are 70,757 active cases.

A total of 519,635 doses of vaccines have been administered so far. 9,586 vaccinations took place in the past day.

President Rumen Radev confers the presidential badge of honour on 15 prominent doctors and healthcare specialists on World Health Day

“The coronavirus has painfully revealed the shortcomings of the system – inequality of access to medical services and imbalances in the distribution of human and financial resources,” President Rumen Radev stated in his speech to the medical workers awarded the presidential badge of honour on World Health Day.

President Radev added that the numerous human lives lost have made insufferable the negligence of the fact that the system is terminally ill when it comes to prevention of major diseases.

“It has been common knowledge for a long time that the healthcare system needs to be cured,” the Bulgarian head of state said and added that its guiding principle ought to be the right to health and not an appetite for profiting from disease.

On the occasion of World Health Day Rumen Radev conferred the presidential badge of honour on 15 prominent doctors and healthcare specialists.

Boyko Borissov with greetings to medical workers on their professional holiday

"I am sure that the new government will continue to support health workers in the same way as before," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov wrote on his Facebook page on the occasion of the professional holiday of medics in Bulgaria.

"They have shown a lot of humanness and professionalism, working without a day off in the past year and we grieve for those who lost the battle against the disease," he said. According to the Prime Minister, vaccination has been making good progress and we would soon overcome the coronovirus. "Sufficient protective equipment, vaccines and medicines have been provided. The workers on the front line receive additional 500 euros to their salaries," Boyko Borissov also wrote.

Bulgaria gives 23.5 million euros for more Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines

The government has allocated EUR 23.5 million euros for the purchase of additional quantities of the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer/Biontech, the government's press service reports. The money will be enough for 1,533,037 doses of the vaccine.

Another decision of the cabinet states that conditions would be created for the payment of the additional remuneration of 500 euros for the medical and non-medical staff in the Covid wards, as well as for vaccination against coronavirus in case of possible extension of the epidemic situation after April 30.

Slight rise in Covid-19 cases expected because of elections

There is an increasing number of young people in the Covid-19 wards and intensive care wards of hospitals and one of the reasons is that they seek medical help too late, Prof. Radka Argirova, chair of the Bulgarian Association for Medical Virology has told Nova TV.

She added that people in serious condition come every day and called on patients who experience shortness of breath to seek medical help immediately. According to the virologist, there might be a slight rise in new cases of coronavirus infection after the elections. Prof. Radka Argirova also said that the number of newly infected continues to be high and the decline seen during weekends was a matter of statistics. Vaccination for hospital and social workers should be mandatory, she added.

Large non-food stores are pushing for reopening

Non-food hypermarkets with an area of more than 300 square metres insist on being allowed to reopen on April 12. In a letter to the authorities, they claim that they are discriminated against and insist on support from the state, BNR reported.

"Anti-epidemic measures are many times more effective and applicable in stores with a larger area. Closing them leads to a redirection of the flow of consumers to smaller shopping sites, where more people gather in a smaller space," the letter reads. It insists on an equal treatment of all businesses in the conditions of the pandemic.

If their demands are not heard, they will start mass protests, the letter warns.

The pandemic has shortened life expectancy of Bulgarians: Eurostat

Life expectancy in Bulgaria has fallen by -1.5 years to 73.6 years in the pandemic year 2020, Eurostat data show, quoted by bTV. For comparison, in 2019 life expectancy in Bulgaria was 75.1 years.

According to statistics, negative trends are observed in most EU countries.

The only country in which the situation is worse than in Bulgaria in this indicator is Spain, where the decrease is -1.6 compared to 2019, but up to 82.4 years.

Compiled by Joan Kolev and Radio Bulgaria's News Team

You can find all stories and important publications related to Covid-19 in Bulgaria at our special coverage section in English.

You can also follow all latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak and all measures in Bulgaria in 9 more languages at Radio Bulgaria.

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Covid-19 in Bulgaria: Day 396

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