April 1 (BTA) - The new COVID-19 cases have been rising over the past two weeks and this country has been at the peak of its third wave in recent days, Health Minister Kostadin Angelov told a briefing at the Council of Ministers on Thursday.

Healthcare establishments are under pressure, especially in Sofia and the regions of Bourgas, Shoumen and Varna. The biggest pressure, however, is that on people's psyche. Different people are trying to exert pressure by playing with Bulgarians' hopes and fears, Angelov said, urging everyone to be calm and assuring that the system is ready and prepared. "We are not worried at all," the Health Minister said.

"The only hope we have is related to the increasing number of vaccinated individuals, which averages 15,000 per day," he said, adding that this number is expected to increase further. "We might be the only country in Europe where people have access to the vaccine, their turn comes and then they refuse it because it is not the one they prefer," Angelov said, adding that enough vaccines are expected to arrive by the end of April, so that people can chose between them.

The Health Minister said that 71 per cent of COVID-19 intensive care hospital beds are occupied. This number could be increased without compromising the hospital beds designated for patients with other diseases.

Every patient who needs hospital care, including scheduled medical treatment, will be admitted if their condition is serious, Angelov further said.

Bulgaria ranks third in Europe and the EU in COVID-19 mortality and second in the Balkans, Chief State Health Inspector Angel Kounchev said during the briefing. The number of hospitalized patients is much higher compared to the second wave in November and December, because of the British variant of the virus, which causes respiratory problems faster and necessitates hospitalizations, Kounchev explained.

The Bulgarian Drug Agency's head, Bogdan Kirilov, noted that Pfizer has a new production facility in Germany and vaccine supplies are expected to increase and speed up across the EU. The storage requirements for this vaccine have been relaxed, which is expected to facilitate the logistics.

Bulgaria expects around 700,000 vaccine doses in April from various manufacturers.

A total of 1,442 adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines have been reported in Bulgaria so far, Kirilov said. People are reporting flu-like symptoms, fever and pain at the injection site. These symptoms usually disappear within 24 hours and rarely last up to 48 hours after vaccination. RY/MY



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