Bulgaria’s Parliament approvess donation of 51,480 doses of Pfizer vaccine to Republic of North Macedonia

MPs on September 8 unanimously ratified the agreement with which Bulgaria donates 51,480 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to the Republic of North Macedonia. The donation is worth a little over BGN 1.5 million.

The plenary day began with criticisms over the low proportion of vaccinated in Bulgaria, exchanged during the debate on vaccine donations to the Republic of North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the sale of doses to Norway.

The “There is Such a People” PG came up with a proposal that the immunization against COVID-19 be entirely voluntary and that this be explicitly included in the Health Act.

"The way the law was made after the amendments more than a year ago, the Minister of Health, in this extraordinary situation, may, at his/her discretion, oblige the Bulgarian population with mandatory vaccination as thought aprropriate. We propose that the law introduce a text that vaccines against COVID 19 are recommended and have a voluntary character, so that no Minister of Health can panic or be pressured to oblige the entire population with mandatory vaccination", Toshko Yordanov of “There is Such a People” motivated his proposal.

According to him, the latest order of the Ministry of Health, which tightens the anti-epidemic measures on the territory of the country, opens a door for employers to pressure employees to get COVID vaccine, threatening them with dismissal.

Caretaker Minister of Helath, Dr. Stoycho Katsarov, commented on the reasons for introducing new measures.

"Not everyone has been vaccinated and we have no other mechanism to limit the spread of the infection, to reduce the number of patients in hospitals, except to impose this type of measures. They are scientifically justified. This is the right approach. Otherwise, if we cancel the measures, we face up to having 5,000-6,000, 7,000 in hospitals next week and 1,000 in intensive care units. If we start fighting and critising each other, we will definitely not be successful and the price will be paid by our parents, grandparents, Katsarov said.

The work of the Parliament continues with consideration of the budget of the Social Security and the budget of the National Health Insurance Fund.