New system for vaccinations against Covid-19 in place from today

Order issued by the caretaker Minister of Health, Dr. Stoycho Katsarov, changes the rules for vaccination from today, May 18. According to the new order, from Mondays to Thursdays the vaccination centres in the country will administer Covid-19 jabs only to people over 60 and those with chronic diseases.

Everyone else can get vaccinated on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

Thus, people from risk groups will be immunized as a priority in order to reduce mortality in the country, Minister Katsarov said.

According to former Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov, this will slow down the pace of vaccination. "What worries me is that the order issued with the new organization will seriously compromise the pace that has been achieved in vaccinations and will alienate us from herd immunity," commented Prof. Kostadin Angelov.

According to the new vaccination rules, GPs will now receive vaccines once a week from logistics points in each municipality.

Health Inspectorates will organise mobile teams for people with reduced mobility who want to be vaccinated, as well as for people in remote areas.

People with an appointment in the online electronic register will be immunized on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, following the order of registration.

According to the caretaker Minister of Health, how long the measures will last depends on when the country will reach herd immunity.

"If we vaccinate the senior citizens, as 80% of the Covid-19 associated deaths occured in those aged 60 and over, we will significantly reduce mortality and that is our priority, so we are changing the plan for immunisations, a group I have always said we should have started with. That's the group all developed countries started with, the oldest people ", said the Minister of Health Dr. Stoycho Katsarov.