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"+ Me" is a campaign of the Ministry of Health to raise awareness about the benefits of vaccines and vaccination against COVID-19. The strategic goal of the campaign is to limit the number of deaths due to COVID-19, the number of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients (including those in intensive care facilities), and to limit the long-term consequences for the health of Bulgarian citizens - a consequence of COVID-19.
The last month has seen us witness a fateful event in the world - the war in Ukraine, which took the lives of innocent people and destroyed millions of lives. Beyond the geopolitical and economic effects of the war, Europe also faces the threat of a simultaneous humanitarian and health crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, although now everyone's eyes are on Ukraine.
Our country continues to be in the last place in terms of the number of vaccinated citizens in the EU and one of the first in terms of mortality due to COVID-19, despite strong scientific and statistical data that vaccines protect against severe disease, subsequent complications and death. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 35,000 Bulgarian citizens have died from COVID-19. Among them are scientists, medical professionals, teachers, people with different professions, contributing to the normal functioning of each country, our acquaintances, relatives and friends. For the period from January 2021 to March 2022 over 92% of patients with COVID-19 admitted to medical institutions in our country are unvaccinated, without vaccine are 97% of people with COVID-19 in whom intensive treatment is required. As of March 1, just over 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered in the country, with 2.045 million people completing a vaccination course. The number of booster doses is 690 thousand.
By comparison, as of March 1, an average of 71% of the population in the EU and the European Economic Area have completed a vaccination course. Only 29.3% of Bulgarian citizens have completed vaccination. Last but not least are the number of booster doses - on average in the EU and EEA countries with a booster are 51.4% of citizens, and in our country - 9.9%.
Nearly a year and a half after the start of the vaccination campaign in the European Union, many people continue to feel insecure and have doubts about the benefits, safety and effectiveness of vaccines. In Bulgaria, their share is significantly higher than the European average, as can be clearly seen from the achieved vaccination coverage in the EU Member States.
The most convincing evidence of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccines is the strong reduction in COVID-19 mortality in countries with a high vaccination coverage.
Timely vaccination and booster doses are also key to reducing the number of post-COVID conditions and permanent health damage that have the potential to increase overall mortality in the coming years and, in some cases, cause partial or complete loss. of working capacity, resp. for disability.
In this context, the + Me information campaign has the ambition to answer the questions everyone asks by providing science-based information on vaccines and vaccination (including the use of vaccines in specific health conditions and diseases). . We believe that in this way we will be useful to more citizens to make their informed choices and support us by joining the active efforts to defeat the virus.
The implementation of the large-scale awareness campaign would have added value in terms of increasing public health literacy for vaccine-preventable diseases and vaccination as prevention.
