EU’s Least Vaccinated Country Wants to Donate Shots to Neighbors
A medical worker prepares to administer a Covid-19 vaccine to an person in Albena, Bulgaria.
Photographer: Hristo Rusev/Getty Images
Bulgaria, the European Union country that has vaccinated the smallest share of its population, is planning to provide as many as 150,000 doses to its Balkan neighbors amid a lack of demand at home.
Skepticism toward the vaccines, poor organization and lack of trust in the institutions has slowed the inoculation process in the EU’s poorest member, where less than 20% of the population has received at least one shot. While supplies earlier this year were delayed, Bulgaria now has enough vaccines for the current vaccination rate and has even asked for some deliveries to be postponed, Health Minister Stoycho Katsarov told reporters in Sofia on Thursday.