Sofia risks measles outbreak amid vaccine mistrust

The risk of measles spreading and causing serious epidemic outbreaks has been reinforced as fake news about COVID-19 vaccines has likely resulted in fewer children getting vaccinated against measles since the pandemic.

The scope of vaccination of children against measles in Sofia has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. It creates serious risks of epidemic outbreaks, the leading epidemiologist of the Sofia Health Administration, Dr Irina Gaitanevska, announced during European Immunisation Week.

Unimmunised young children are most at risk.

There was a serious drop in immunisation coverage during the pandemic when Bulgarian social media were flooded with fake news about the COVID-vaccines, which began to affect other vaccines as well, Bulgarian authorities commented.

Last year, nearly 93% of children in Sofia were covered by the first dose of the measles vaccine, but the coverage remains below the recommended 95%. This is worrying because the number of measles cases in the EU is increasing.

The number of vaccinated Bulgarian children is probably much lower because some doctors tend to issue vaccination certificates to the children of anti-vaxxer parents without the vaccines being administered. In Bulgaria, admission to kindergarten without mandatory vaccinations is prohibited – a situation that forces a growing number of anti-vaxxer parents to bribe doctors to issue them vaccination certificates.

“A 95% immunisation coverage annually will prevent the spread of measles and the occurrence of large-scale epidemics and lead to the elimination of the disease. Due to the high infectivity of the measles virus, 90% of persons without immunity in contact with a measles patient will become infected and become ill. One in five sufferers will develop serious complications of various organs and systems. It can even lead to death,” said Dr Gaitanevska.

The decline in immunisation coverage after COVID-19 is observed throughout Europe, and Bulgaria is no exception.

While in Bulgaria, there is no political will to solve the problem of refusal of mandatory immunisations, the European Immunisation Week goes by the motto: “Every dose counts” and aims to draw attention to the need to improve vaccination coverage following the reported decline in immunisations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)