Vaccination failure may lead to new lockdown in Bulgaria

The increased mortality from COVID-19 may result in a new strict lockdown in Bulgaria, caretaker Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov has admitted. Read more.

Bulgaria currently has some of the most liberal restrictive measures in the EU, the highest mortality rate in the bloc and the lowest percentage of vaccinated people – about 18% of the population.

“If we strictly follow the measures we imposed from 7 September, we may soon get rid of some or most of them. However, if we do not comply with them, we could reach much stricter measures, including complete closure,” Katsarov said in an interview with national radio on Sunday.

“People who are protesting against the measures have reason to do so, as the suspension of work deprives them of income and livelihood. These people need to be compensated and the government is ready for that. We might not have come this far at all if the vaccination in our country was widespread. But this is not the case and we are acting according to the situation,” the minister said.

About 95% of the Bulgarians admitted to hospital for treatment with COVID-19 are not vaccinated. But while the number of deaths among those vaccinated is 1 in 1,000, it is 4 in 100 among the unvaccinated – that’s 40 times more, Katsarov explained.

“Initially, it was thought that vaccines would prevent the transmission of the disease. It turned out that they do not fully protect, but to a great extent protect against severe illness and death,” he added.

According to Katsarov, Bulgaria has failed in the way it has managed the vaccination process from the very beginning.

At the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, Katsarov (then an NGO activist) was opposed to the restrictive measures. In autumn he was hospitalised with COVID-19 and was vaccinated publicly after becoming a minister in May.