3,988 new cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours out of 17,825 tests performed, indicate data of the Single Coronavirus Information Portal. Almost 22% of the tests have returned positive result. The highest number of new infections was reported in Sofia-1,109, followed by Varna-362, Burgas-321 and Plovdiv-295.

2,161 people have recovered and 99 patients have died in the past 24 hours. There are 9,281 patients in hospital, as 769 of them are in intensive care units. There are 64,120 active cases of Covid-19.

14,292 vaccines have been administered in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of inoculations against Covid-19 to 415,601. 321,104 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus infection and 12,512 people have died from Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. 

“Whereas in October and November no more than 20% of people in this country stated they wanted to get a Covid-19 vaccine, now their number has doubled with 40% saying they intend to get vaccinated,” he added.

At an extraordinary sitting the government allocated 96 million Leva to the health system, 50 million of which will go to pay the per capita sum of 1,000 Leva to frontline health workers, and the remaining 46 million – to purchase Remdesivir administered to hospitalized coronavirus patients.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov commented on the decisions by EU leaders regarding Covid-19 vaccines: “I believe that in the coming days the European Commission is going to take steps to make their proportional distribution a fact. Perhaps in April we shall have three times as many vaccines.”

Half of Bulgarians will be inoculated against Covid-19 by the end of June and more than 70% of the population will receive Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the summer, said for Nova TV Professor Asen Baltov, Director of Pirogov Emergency Hospital. 

In April, the number of RNA vaccines delivered to Bulgaria will increase threefold. Meanwhile, a second vector Covid-19 vaccine will be available and people will be able to choose their vaccine. The British coronavirus variant is extremely fast spreading and people who already had Covid-19 can be re-infected. In his view, the coronavirus infection has become a catalyst for the chronic diseases. “Our nation had very serious health problems before the Covid-19 crisis”, added Professor Baltov.