Bulgaria May Bin Unused COVID-19 Jabs as Vaccination Falters

A woman receives a COVID-19 vacine at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria, February 22, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

According to Gigov, while 4.6 million doses of different brands have been distributed, only 1.8 million have been used. The expiry date is close for those jabs that arrived in late 2020 or early 2021. 

Gigov's warning come as vaccination continues at slow pace; usually only 10,000 to 15,000 injections are given out daily. Bulgaria is the slowest country in vaccinating its population in the EU.

Contributing factors have been the chaotic rules in place around the start of the mass vaccination, complicated logistics around the distribution of jabs to smaller towns as well as notorious high levels of popular distrust in vaccines, fueled by conspiracy theories.

Research published by the polling agency Gallup on January 12, at around the first phase of the inoculation campaign, found that 46 per cent of Bulgarians would not want vaccination.

"People's willingness to be vaccinated has faded as infections have receded, but let's remember what happened last winter," said Gigov, referring to the spike in fatalities and overloaded hospitals.

He did not clarify whether the endangered doses belong to a certain brand. Bulgaria has been working with Pfizer/BionNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, which was the main supplier to the country in the first months of 2021. "There's a psychological issue; there were queues of people wanting to get vaccinated when supply was scarce, and less interest when there was enough in reserve," he noted.

Gigov highlighted that the media's vaccination campaign would not reach those who are not following any media outlets: promoting vaccines also remains a struggle in...