“Bulgaria is overcoming the third wave of Covid-19. We were able to achieve the goal we had set to ourselves. To date, there is not a single region designated in red on Bulgaria’s morbidity map. We achieved it because the reason, intellect of the experts and discipline guided us all the time,” announced at the regular briefing of the National Operational HQ, outgoing Minister of Health Prof. Kostadin Angelov

In his words, Bulgaria will soon become an example of achieving results that could not be achieved in many European countries.

"I want to thank all Bulgarians who trusted the voice of science and did not give ear to populist rhetoric. To those who believed it was better to stay at home than to go to a mass event," the health minister added.

Prof. Angelov also said that during the third wave the disease took a more severe course.

Countrywide, 61 percent of hospital beds are occupied and the bed occupancy rate in intensive care wards is 65 percent.

"We have achieved a lot with a rational, targeted policy, but in order to maintain what has been achieved there are two mandatory conditions - to continue vaccination and to maintain its pace. To this end, today at 12 o'clock we will have a meeting of vaccination task force to discuss what we will do with the Janssen vaccine, and can we afford to open "green corridors" and start off phase five of the vaccination campaign if we let the elderly and those with chronic diseases get vaccinated by the GPs.

The second essential condition is compliance with anti-epidemic measures. We have to maintain the results achieved and not become self-complacent" the health minister said.

In his words, the heaviest burden are the lost lives that are not forgotten. According to Prof. Angelov the anti-epidemic measures will have to remain in place for another two months, because it all depends on the pace of vaccination campaign. According to him, the goal is to achieve immunization rate of 50,000 people per day.