On the threshold of the flu wave in the country, there is a lack of flu vaccines. In early October, last year, nearly 350,000 doses of free vaccines were provided for people over 65, but they have already run out.
In the first days of the New Year, the Montana polyclinic is full of people. However, there are no flu vaccines. “I also have an aunt whose daughter wants to vaccinate her to protect her from bringing a virus. They are especially right for the elderly, because they have many chronic diseases“, says a patient quoted by Nova TV.
Paraskeva is also waiting in front of her GP's office. The woman managed to get vaccinated against the flu at the end of October. “My husband has an additional lung disease and because of him I also want to get vaccinated, so that I can feel more at ease“, explained Paraskeva Evtimova.
There is not a single flu vaccine in Dr. Lyudmil Djurdjov's office. “The flu vaccines ran out at the end of November last year. All requested vaccines under the program for adults over 65 have been administered“, said the general practitioner.
There are no vaccines for free sale in pharmacies either. “There are no flu vaccines in our country anymore. They are included in quotas in Bulgaria, they are taken at the beginning of the season. "Everything is now completely exhausted, we have provided about a hundred units to our patients," emphasized master pharmacist Kristina Djurdjova.
According to Dr. Djurdjov, however, it is not too late to get vaccinated. "We have isolated cases of flu, the flu epidemic has not yet started. It will be at least what we observe in at least two weeks, and it takes at least two weeks to build immunity when vaccinated," he claims.
And he recalls the first symptoms of flu. "It is characteristic of the flu that it starts abruptly, with high fever, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, sore throat, while other respiratory diseases characteristic of this season start gradually and not so abruptly," he recalled.
And for those who do not have an anti-flu vaccine or do not want to get vaccinated, grandmother's recipes against flu remain.