Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Mistrust in the management of the pandemic is reflected in the low interest in vaccination: Assoc. Prof. Hristo Hinkov

The management of the crisis has been more political than medical

Assoc. Prof. Hristo Hinkov
Photo: BGNES

“According to the analysis commissioned by the Ministry regarding the causes of the high mortality rate in Bulgaria during the pandemic, there is no unique factor that has placed it among the countries with the highest death rate in Europe. The reasons are comprehensive,” said Assoc. Prof. Hristo Hinkov, Director of the National Centre for Public Health and Analysis at a briefing of the health authorities. “We entered this pandemic with a population that is very sick. Second, we entered the pandemic with a system of healthcare that is unreformed. And the third is the management of the pandemic.”

Another factor is that life expectancy in the country is shorter by 6 years compared to the other European countries, and that Bulgarians suffer from different chronic diseases.
166, 050 people have died in Bulgaria in the period from 1 March 2020 until 1 May 2021. 78% of all people who died are in the high-risk 60 to 89 age bracket. The Covid mortality rate is 123 per 100,000, and in this index Bulgaria is in third position in Europe. The coronavirus mortality increases the overall death rate because, concomitantly, it multiplies the people who have died of chronic diseases. Coronavirus patients account for 28% of all hospitalizations during this period. That too increases the mortality from other diseases because it has impeded treatment and prevention. In Assoc. Prof. Hristo Hinkov’s words no comprehensive concept has been developed for tackling the pandemic. The crisis management has been more political than medical. The anti-epidemic measures in 125 different orders have been halfway measures, populist and contradictory. This has bred mistrust in the ability of the authorities to cope with the pandemic, and this is now being reflected in the low interest in vaccination. 



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Sofia Municipality launches night bus service from airport to city centre

Sofia will now have night public transport connecting the centre with Vasil Levski Airport , according to the press centre of the Sofia Municipality. Starting on 14 July, night bus line No. 4 will run, extending its current route from the Gotse..

published on 7/11/25 2:21 PM
Hristijan Mickoski

Hristijan Mickoski must apologise, PM Zhelyazkov says in Rome

“Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski’s narrative will be left to those familiar with Aesop’s fables,” Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov commented in Rome, where he attended the Fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference.  “North Macedonia must adhere to..

published on 7/11/25 1:44 PM

PM Zhelyazkov reaffirms Bulgaria’s support for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction

Bulgaria has consistently and unwaveringly supported Ukraine since the outset of the war, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during their meeting at the Fourth Conference on the Recovery of Ukraine ...

published on 7/11/25 1:29 PM