Bulgaria has signed contracts for 490,000 doses of flu vaccine for people aged 65 and over for the 2026-2027 season, health ministry official Dr Natalia Spiridonova said. Earlier the same day, the ministry told BTA the country expects 770,000 flu vaccine doses in total.
The vaccines are free under the national programme covering seasonal flu and pneumococcal infections for people aged 65 and over. Dr Spiridonova spoke at a seminar on preventing and vaccinating against seasonal flu, respiratory syncytial virus, COVID-19, pneumococcal infections and chickenpox.
She said the number of people covered has grown by 300% since the programme began in 2019.
The first programme ran from 2019 to 2022. The 2019 target was to reach 10% of people in this age group, or 148,191 flu vaccine doses. In the end, 7.8% got vaccinated that year. The share then rose to 11.4% in 2020, 13.4% in 2021 and 12.6% in 2022. More than 3,000 GPs in over 600 towns and villages took part.
Under the second programme, running from 2023 to 2026, coverage stood at 18.7% in 2023. It climbed to 20% in 2024 and 24.4% in 2025. Vaccination against pneumococcal infections was later added, with more than 48,000 doses given in 2024 and over 25,000 in 2025.