Bulgaria expects the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to give the green light to the use of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US biotech company Moderna by January 6, the health ministry said on Monday.
Currently, Bulgaria also expects the approval of a vaccine developed by another manufacturer, health minister Kostadin Angelov said in a press release after Bulgaria received 25,000 new doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine earlier on Monday.
The country will get a further 25,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in about 10 days and a further 35,000 doses by the beginning of February, Angelov said in a video file published on the website of local Nova TV.
The first phase of the immunisation with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine started among healthcare professionals in Bulgaria on December 27 with the first 9,750 doses delivered to the country. It is expected to be completed in two weeks' time and then, the second phase will be launched, which envisages the vaccination of people in elderly homes as well as school teachers, Angelov said in the video file.
The mass immunisation of Bulgaria's population will begin in February or March when the country will have a bigger supply of Covid-19 vaccines, he added.
Bulgaria has registered a total of 203,051 coronavirus cases as of Monday, with 122,411 recoveries and 7,678 associated deaths. A total of 4,739 people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 as of Monday, according to data published by the health ministry.