Bulgaria's health ministry says the updated Covid-19 vaccine becomes available from today, and children can also get a nasal vaccine against seasonal flu for the 2026/2027 season.
This story follows our earlier report on children starting the nasal flu vaccine on October 5.
So far 14,400 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine have been delivered to Bulgaria — 2,880 for children aged 6 months to 11 years and 11,520 for those 12 and older. Another 17,280 doses for the 12-and-older group are expected in October and November.
The vaccine targets the XFG variant of SARS-CoV-2, in line with this season's recommendation from the European Medicines Agency. The Covid-19 shot is free.
The health minister approved the priority groups recommended by the National Expert Council on Immunisations. They include people 60 and older, with top priority for those 75 and up, especially over 80. Children from 6 months old with moderate or severe immune suppression are also included, as are people with chronic illness at risk of severe disease who live in residential or long-term care homes. Pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy are included too, along with health workers and anyone in direct contact with high-risk patients. Anyone else can also get the vaccine, as long as it's approved for their age.
Covid-19 vaccinations are given at regional health inspectorate offices and at hospitals and clinics. Mobile teams will be sent out on request for people who struggle to travel and for those living in remote areas. Vaccination sites will be listed on the health inspectorates' websites.
Sofia's regional health inspectorate starts vaccinating from this morning at 20 Vrania Street, open on weekdays from 8:30am to 4:30pm.
The nasal flu vaccine is meant for children aged 2 to 7 under the national flu vaccination programme for children running from 2026 to 2030. A further 27,496 doses for children aged 2 to 17 are going to pharmacies.
The vaccine contains three viral strains, matching the composition recommended by the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency for the 2026/2027 season: A/Missouri/11/2025 (H1N1)pdm09, A/Darwin/1454/2025 (H3N2) and B/Tokyo/EIS13-175/2025 from the B/Victoria lineage.
Delivery of 47,504 doses of the nasal vaccine to GP practices taking part in the programme is still under way and should be finished in the coming days.