COVID-19 in Bulgaria Overview: The “Green Certificate” Period for Post-Illness has been Extended

Tensions in front of the malls and fictitious inspections on the first day of the introduction of the "green certificates".

Health authorities changed the rules on the day they took effect, and Prime Minister Stefan Yanev acknowledged that they were late in introducing them.

The new thing from today - the term of the certificates of the patientswho had the disease changes from 6 months to one year. However, extended certificates will only be valid at national level, but not in other countries.

Restaurants and malls will receive a grace period of several days in which to be able to introduce the new requirements.

"The extension of the certificate for post-covid patients up to 12 months is a unanimous opinion of three expert councils on immunology, infectious diseases and epidemiology," said Borislav Sotirov.

"The certificate of post-illness will be considered valid for up to one year, within our country. This period cannot be extended - to be used for travel to the European Union, where European rules apply. There is no need to re-issue certificates," added the Minister of Health Dr. Stoycho Katsarov.

Research to date has shown that immune cells and antibodies persist for up to 1 year after illness.

"More people that already had covid, as opposed to vaccinated, tend to maintain the antibody and cellular immune response for a longer period of time," added Prof. Mariana Murdzheva of the Expert Council on Clinical Immunology.

There are still no systematic studies on how long the immune response lasts in vaccinated people, but scientists expect their certification to be...