Members of election commissions will be included in the third phase of Covid-19 vaccination plan

The Covid-19 vaccination plan will be amended and the third phase will include all participants in the election process - the members of the polling stations election commissions, the mobile election commissions, the members of the Regional Election Commissions (REC) and the Central Election Commission (CEC).

This was reported by the Minister of Health, Kostadin Angelov, at the working meeting convened by the Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in the Council of Ministers on January 29.

Minister Angelov pledged on Wednesday to make the necessary changes. The members of election commissions, who will be sent to the polling stations abroad, will also be vaccinated.

He added that with regard to the instructions for conducting the election process, the protocol has been prepared and it is being discussed at expert level.

"Our ambition is provide vaccines against Covid-19 for the entire election administration, those who want to be vaccinated. It is more than 80,000 people," said Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev.

"Within the framework of the existing Electoral Code, in cooperation with the CEC, we are looking for additional opportunities for the electoral process in Bulgaria to be even more transparent," Donchev added.

He reminded that all political forces have representation in CEC and RECs and these are not people who are part of the state administration. Also in Bulgaria, each REC protocol is publicly available.

But we are looking for an opportunity within the current legislation to ensure additional transparency of the election process. In addition, anyone who wishes - from an international organization to an NGO in Bulgaria, has the right to participate as an observer in the election process. The more observers, the better," Donchev said. and added that the presence of more impartial observers to monitor the election process will be an additional argument that the elections reflect the will of the people.

"The transparency of the elections is extremely important, so please make an effort not only the members of the CEC, but also to all those from the sectoral election commissions to get vaccinated, voluntarily and free of charge," said Prime Minister Borissov.

Deputy Prime Minister Zaharieva said that so far the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received consent from 33 countries to open polling stations . these are countries with large concentration of Bulgarian community. Zaharieva pointed out that all necessary efforts are being made and full mobilization is in place to ensure the process of voting abroad for Bulgarian citizens in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is in constant contact and coordination with the CEC members.

"We have already submitted a request for the opening of polling stations with the exact date of the vote in all countries where we have embassies or accredited ambassadors," Zaharieva added.

She stressed that efforts are being made to open polling station, which number will not be less than in the previous elections.

"After talks with the Ministry of Health, we have provided funding for protective equipment for members of sectional polling stations abroad, for disinfection, and where necessary - for screens, because somewhere there will be a requirement from the country for plexiglas screens.

Minister Angelov confirmed that all doses of vaccines received in Bulgaria have been administered to people, and the second dose to complete the immunization is kept and thus the completion of the immunization is guaranteed.

"The number of vaccines we receive, as well as their price are agreed by the EC, and the guarantor is the European Medicines Agency. There is not a single day of delay in vaccinations," the Prime Minister said.

He reminded that the National Assembly ratified the request of the European Commission for all member states to hold competitions, tenders and to send vaccines to the countries on a quota basis.

The executive director of the Medicines Agency, Bogdan Kirilov, reports that Bulgaria will have 18 million doses of vaccines under all contracts that the European Commission concludes with the manufacturers.

By June, including, provided that five of the companies receive permission for the use of the vaccines, this will allow Bulgaria to vaccinate up to 2.5 million people," Kirilov explained.

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