Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece are the TOP-5 destinations for vaccination tourism in Russia, reports the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR) on its website in a publication dated February 9^th 2022.

The interest of Russian citizens in vaccination abroad is dictated by the fact that the Russian vaccine "Sputnik V" has not yet been recognized by the WHO, and the Russians are already making plans for trips around the world during the summer tourist season 2022. A search on the internet shows that a number of Russian travel agencies are indeed offering such trips to Bulgaria, mainly to Burgas, Varna and Sofia.

For more information on the interest of Russian tourists in vaccination tours to our country, Radio Bulgaria contacted the Burgas Regional Tourist Chamber. However, the chairman of the BRTC Delyana Tsoneva was surprised by this inquiry. Such tours are absolutely impossible given the vaccination rules in our country, she was adamant.

As we read in one of the advertisements of the Russian agencies that "the Bulgarian government has given the green light for foreigners to be vaccinated free of charge during their stay in Bulgaria", we decided to ask the Secretary General of the Regional Health Inspectorate Burgas, Mariana Kofinova, whether foreign tourists can still be vaccinated in Bulgaria. Here is what she said:

"Not for foreign tourists! Only those who have permanent, long-term or temporary residence in the country can be vaccinated after they present the required document."

To hear it from the horse’s mouth, we contacted a Russian tourism agency and see what they had to offer. We managed to "buy" a three-day trip for two for 81 900 rubles (912 euro). But what is in the package?

"The vaccine is for free, but you’ll be accompanied with someone from the tourist agency. This is included in the package price. The package also includes airfare. We will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. The next morning at the hotel you’ll have breakfast, we’ll pick you up from the hotel and take you to be vaccinated. After the vaccination we’ll drive you back to the hotel. On the third day after breakfast, a car will take you to the airport," said a Moscow travel agency representative.

Another travel agency, from St. Petersburg, states on its website that foreign nationals can be vaccinated in Bulgaria only through tour operators. We called the agency to find out exactly what vaccines they can offer us in Bulgaria. They said the following:

"Vaccines are either Johnson & Johnson or Pfizer. Pfizer can be boostered after two doses of Sputnik V but 3-10 months must have passed since the last dose.

After a five-minute search on Russian forums, we found several places in Burgas and Sofia where they give vaccines to Russian tourists without trouble. We contacted a medical center in Burgas and asked if they would administer Covid-19 vaccine to our guests from Moscow.

"What can I tell you, the enrolment is for the day. It depends on whether there is some vaccine left in the vials, for example. I can't tell you in advance... Since they're not residents, if they're lucky enough to have a vial open on a given day, we'll give them a jab.If not, then there is no way for us to open a vial for a foreigner. That's what we tell everybody. Today, for instance, a Russian boy came, pure luck – we had vaccine left, so we injected him, we didn't throw it out.

We asked if our guests could choose between Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, they clarified that if a group came, a certain vial could be opened.

After this answer, we decided to seek the position of the authorities in Bulgaria again. This time we asked the Ministry of Health does Bulgaria provide vaccination against Covid-19 to foreign tourists?

The answer was no.

According to the provisions of Art. 83, par. 1 and 3 of the Health Act and § 21b of the Transitional and Final Provisions of the Act on Measures and Actions during the State of Emergency, declared by the National Assembly decision of 13.03.2020, and to Overcome the Consequences in 2021, vaccines against Covid-19 may be administered only to foreigners with long-term or permanent residence permit in Bulgaria, as well as foreign students and PhD students studying in Bulgaria.

Thus the idea of providing vaccination tours, albeit on the edge of legality, turn out to be an interesting strategy to stimulate tourism in a time of crisis.

Editor: Elena Karkalanova

English version: Elizabeth Radkova