“If we continue to behave like the idiots of Europe, we will deal a terrible blow to our economy and tourism,” said Chief Health Inspector Angel Kunchev, who proposes restrictive measures against COVID-19 in the country.

The decision to impose the measures lies in the hands of the government, which has been ignoring Dr Kunchev’s calls for mandatory vaccination. Bulgaria is the country with the lowest number (only 18%) of fully vaccinated citizens in Europe.

Moreover, Bulgaria has the highest overall mortality in the world, including one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 deaths per capita.

“Next year no one will want to come to Bulgaria as a tourist if we have 20-30% of immunised citizens against the 70-80% average in the EU. People will choose safer places. When someone talks about the economy, they must take this fact into account”, Kunchev said.

The expert insists on mandatory vaccination of medical staff and employees in nursing homes as well as on the introduction of obligatory health certificates when visiting a restaurant and bar. The caretaker government completely ignored his proposals.

On Wednesday, Bulgaria donated 320,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jabs, which expires at the end of September, to Bangladesh and Bosnia. In addition, the country sold another 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccines to Norway.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)