Covid-19 infection produces a stronger immune response than vaccines: Professor Doycheva

The coronavirus infection produces a stronger immune response than the vaccine against Covid-19, said for BTV Professor Viktoriya Doycheva, Head of Department of Epidemiology at the Medical University of Sofia. In her words, the people who have already had Covid-19 must receive vaccines as well. However, they should be inoculated three months after the initial infection at the earliest. “The forthcoming third wave of Covid-19 is not likely to be catastrophic”, said Viktoriya Doycheva. In her view, antigen testing for children is pointless, because the results show the current picture, but it is unclear what happens next. “Mass vaccination must continue. In the history of infectious diseases, vaccines have always been the key to the eradication of various illnesses”, stressed Professor Doycheva. 

Life to return to normal in the spring of 2022: cardiologist Sotir Marchev

Life will return to normal in the spring of 2022, forecasted cardiologist Dr. Sotir Marchev for Nova TV. Bulgarians are afraid of Covid-19, but cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death, added Dr. Marchev. People should not stop taking care of their heart health due to fear of coronavirus infection, stressed Sotir Marchev. In his view, the high mortality rate is due to unhealthy lifestyle- physical inactivity, obesity, poor nutrition, chronic stress, insufficient sleep, etc, which cause cardiovascular diseases and destroy immunity, added Dr. Sotir Marchev.

Bulgaria reports 966 new cases of Covid-19 out of 11,164 tests performed

966 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours out of 11,164 tests performed, indicate data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal. Nearly 9% of the tests have returned positive result. The highest number of coronavirus infections was reported in Sofia-233, followed by Burgas-85 and Plovdiv-76. 522 people have recovered and 33 patients have died in the past 24 hours. 3,317 patients are being treated in hospital, including 304 in intensive care wards. 26 medics have been diagnosed with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. 9,818 medics have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 3,500 people have been inoculated against Covid-19 in the past 24 hours. The total number of vaccinations has reached 74,696. 20,571 Bulgarians have already received their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr. Chavdar Botev: Mucosal vaccines to be effective against new strains of Covid-19

The new strains of Covid-19 require new vaccines, hematologist Dr. Chavdar Botev said for Nova TV. In his words, the companies have already been developing new vaccines. “We are about to witness the use of the so-called mucosal vaccines which induce immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies and T lymphocytes”. In Chavdar Botev’s view, Bulgaria is in a privileged position in terms of the amount of vaccines that will arrive, because it is a member of the European Union. “We must receive these vaccines, in order to be able to lead a normal life”, added Dr. Chavdar Botev.

Pulmonologist compares Covid-19 and Spanish flu

It is much more difficult to eradicate the pandemic when the global spread of the novel coronavirus is so big, said for BNT pulmonologist Dr. Alexander Simidchiev referring to the so-called Spanish flu, which circulated for 4 years. In his view, the coronavirus morbidity depends on factors such as the environment, the human behavior and the transmissibility of certain coronavirus strains. According to immunologist Professor Andrey Chorbanov, Covid-19 will disappear, if 70% of the population receives vaccines and the novel coronavirus infects 70% of the world’s population.  The restrictive measures can stop the growth of the pandemic process and vaccines can reduce its frequency, added Dr. Alexander Simidchiev.

63 countries have consented to voting in Bulgarian Parliamentary elections on their territory

Bulgaria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has obtained the consent of 63 countries for opening of polling stations on their territory for the upcoming Parliamentary elections on April 4, 2021, the Foreign Ministry has announced. The USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Russia, Brazil, Japan, Serbia and Turkey are among the countries that have so far consented to voting in Parliamentary elections on their territory. Voting shall take place in strict observance of the anti-epidemic measures adopted on the territory of these countries. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, some countries have only consented to voting on the territory of Bulgaria’s diplomatic representations. Others will allow voting outside the diplomatic representations.

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Compiled by: Diana Tsankova

English version: Kostadin Atanasov