Health mediators, show business figures and religious leaders will share in a campaign intended to persuade Roma to get vaccinated against COVID-19, Bulgarian Deputy Health Minister Alexander Zlatanov said on Tuesday, emerging from a meeting with Roma health mediators.
The awareness campaign will use all possible channels, BTA reports. The idea is to provide proper and true information about vaccines and all the option of getting the jab.
Zlatanov noted that at less than 10 per cent, the vaccination uptake in Roma communities is below the country average which, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, stands at 16 per cent.
The Deputy Health Minister said that no financial incentives will be offered to any part of the population to get inoculated.
Roma health mediators said at the meeting that the Roma are afraid that they will be asked to pay for immunization, as many of them do not have health insurance. COVID=19 vaccination in Bulgaria is free for everyone, even if the person is not covered by health insurance.
Hristo Nikolov, a health mediator in Sofia, said that Roma communities are being misinformed that the vaccines contain microchips making it possible to track recipients, or that the jabs cause infertility. In Nikolov's words, the Roma do not care to learn what the real situation is.
The awareness campaign will use all possible channels, BTA reports. The idea is to provide proper and true information about vaccines and all the option of getting the jab.
Zlatanov noted that at less than 10 per cent, the vaccination uptake in Roma communities is below the country average which, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, stands at 16 per cent.
The Deputy Health Minister said that no financial incentives will be offered to any part of the population to get inoculated.
Roma health mediators said at the meeting that the Roma are afraid that they will be asked to pay for immunization, as many of them do not have health insurance. COVID=19 vaccination in Bulgaria is free for everyone, even if the person is not covered by health insurance.
Hristo Nikolov, a health mediator in Sofia, said that Roma communities are being misinformed that the vaccines contain microchips making it possible to track recipients, or that the jabs cause infertility. In Nikolov's words, the Roma do not care to learn what the real situation is.
