Head of coronavirus task force: By April we can vaccinate more than 100,000 people
Bulgaria will receive over 12 million vaccines against COVID-19, Head of the National Operational Headquarters for Fight with Coronavirus Pandemic in Bulgaria (the task force), General Mutafchyiski, told BNT breakfast show on January 15.
His forecast is that about 100,000 people will be immunized in Bulgaria by April. At this stage, we are doing very well with the pandemic, even better than expected, which was to reduce the incidence by 50%, he added. The incidence has been reduced by more than 60%. If it is calculated on the basis of an average incidence per 100,000 population, it is even 4 times. Because the starting point was over 660 per 100,000 people. Now the average is about 150-160 people, even to date, it is 125 per 100,000 people, Gen. Mutafchyiski said.
By April, we will have the opportunity to vaccinate more than 100,000 people, Gen. Mutafchyiski said.
So the first stage of vaccination, for healthcare professionals, will pass very quickly and we will move to the second phase. There are currently active comments regarding the priority groups, from the third group, for example, to be vaccinated in parallel with people from the second group, if there is sufficient number of vaccines. But it depends on the quantities of the vaccines, Gen. Mutafchyiski added.
There is no subjective element in the number of vaccines that are in Bulgaria. No one orders them. These things are determined by strict regulations. Our quota is 1.55%, said the chairman of the National Operational Headquarters.
He said confidence in coronavirus vaccines was growing. There are 460 vaccinated medical specialists at the Military Medical Academy so far. The situation across the country is much milder than in December. At the Military Medical Academy we have 35% occupancy of beds for Covid-19 patients, he added.
Asked how he sees himself after the pandemic, Gen. Mutafchyiski said: "Only as a doctor. Political future - by no means. Politics is not my field."
