The Ministry of Health will provide all pregnant women between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation who wish, regardless of whether they are health insured or not, to be immunized against whooping cough free of charge. This was stated by the Minister of Health Dr. Galya Kondeva.
The registered cases of whooping cough in our country so far exceed 500 compared to 4 for the same period last year. This indicates a tendency for the disease to spread epidemically. Children are the most affected – they account for over 90% of all reported cases. “Among them, the risk group of complications and hospitalization are children up to 1 year old. 84% of them are not immunized due to underage,” she added.
The Minister of Health stated that he was taking the following actions:
First – an update of Bulgaria’s immunization calendar, allowing the basic planned immunization against diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, influenza B, infections in newborns to start earlier – from 6 weeks.
Second – the Ministry of Health will provide all pregnant women between 27 and 36 weeks of gestation who wish, regardless of whether they have health insurance or not, to be immunized against this disease free of charge.
According to associate professor Angel Kunchev, the goal is to ensure maximum safety of the most at-risk group – children under 1 year and those who have not reached immunization age. “The information you received covers what we were aiming for. This is done in two ways – both by lowering the age for immunization by two weeks, with which we cover 25% of them, and with the opportunity for all pregnant women to be immunized at points for free,” said the health inspector, BGNES informed.
Immunizations will be done at designated immunization points after the holidays.
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