Bulgaria continues to maintain its position about the need to terminate the contract with Pfizer for the coming years, caretaker Health Minister Dr. Assen Medjidiev told a BTA question about this country’s position regarding the upcoming supply of vaccines against COVID- 19.
He added that Bulgaria has maintained this position since December of last year due to the fact that many vaccines had to be discarded, explaining that that two days ago, at the meeting of health ministers in Brussels, “we gave a mandate to the European Commission (EC) to continue negotiations with the vaccine manufacturer Pfizer.” Minister Medjidiev also said that what has been achieved for this year is a sharp reduction in the doses Bulgaria is to receive. Due to confidentiality of the information, the Health Minister added that he was not at liberty to discuss specific figures regarding supplies.
He said that “the agreements we have reached so far with the EC are for a drastic reduction in the doses and the money that Bulgaria had to set aside under the contract signed with Pfizer in 2021. We will have a discount on these prices, so we will be able to save quite a lot of financial resources, which we will redirect to other activities”.
In the coming months, the main goal that the caretaker Government has set itself and is working on is the construction of the children’s hospital. There has been progress in this regard as well, the Health Minister said. He described as a great success the signing last week of a contract with the European Investment Bank to finance the analysis and design of the children’s hospital. Next week, the detailed development plan of the children’s hospital will also be approved.
The Health Minister visited the St. Petka Medical Centre in Vidin on Saturday, where he inspected on the spot the organisation of free children’s medical examinations conducted by fourteen highly specialised paediatricians. He told journalists that the doctors are part of the Children’s Health Programme, which involves leading specialists from Sofia’s Pirogov emergency hospital and physicians from Sofia.
Source: bta
