Bulgarian government allocates further 96 million BGN for purchase of Remdesivir and remunerations of Covid-19 frontline medical workers

The Bulgarian government has allocated additional BGN 96 million to the account of the Ministry of Health, intended for the purchase of Remdesivir medicine, necessary for the treatment of patients with coronavirus. Some of the funds will be used for payments to front line medical professionals.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on March 26 said that the allocation of these funds was possible because the reduced share of smuggling has resulted in more revenue to the state budget.

Of the total amount, BGN 46 million are intended for the purchase of Remdesivir to ensure quantities of the medicine for treatment of patients with coronavirus infection in hospitals until September, inclusive.

The remaining BGN 50 million is a transfer to the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund. The funds will provide additional remuneration of BGN 1,000 per medical professional for the month of April for those working on the front line in the fight against COVID-19, as well as for the payment of vaccines against COVID-19.

"I'm convinced that in the next days, after what we agreed on yesterday, the EC will make the proportional distribution a fact and maybe in April we will have three times more vaccines as a result of the decisions and discussions that took place yesterday," Borissov said.