site.btaHealth Minister: Bulgaria Urges European Commission to Terminate COVID-19 Vaccines Supply Contract

Bulgaria insists to the European Commission that the contract for the supply of new vaccines against COVID-19 be terminated, caretaker Health Minister Assen Medjidiev told journalists in Parliament on Thursday.

He said that he attended the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council on December 9 and clearly expressed his position that Bulgaria does not need new COVID-19 vaccines. 

According to Medjidiev, a total of 1.5 million doses of Pfizer vaccines and 8,800 Moderna vaccines will expire at the beginning of 2023. These products will have to be scrapped and destroyed, the minister said, adding that over one million doses of Pfizer and 90,000 doses of AstraZeneca have already been scrapped. If we get new doses, they will again have a short shelf life and will end up being scrapped. Medjidiev noted that buying new vaccines implies paying to scrap them. He said that the supply of new vaccines was agreed in advance, that it was a common order for the whole European Union, and that most doses were paid for in advance.

Medjidiev said that he insisted to the EC's department on health to consider the possibility to recover at least part of the funds paid for the ordered vaccines. His statement received the support of the representatives of 15 other EU member states, including Germany. We await the decision of the European Commission's health board, he added.

The Bulgarian Health Minister also said that currently the data on COVID-19 in Bulgaria are not worrying. The infection is mild, although variants are more contagious. According to him, this is due to the fact that a very large number of Bulgarians have already had the disease and have some immunity. The new variant is more contagious, vaccinated people are also infected, but it is much milder, even the flu is more severe than the new variant, Medjidiev added.