The Bulgarian clinical research company Comac Medical officially closed its two vaccination centres on the border with the Republic of Northern Macedonia. The initiative started in May with the financial support of the owner of the company – Bulgarian philanthropist and entrepreneur Dr. Milen Vrabevski. For three months the medical centres at Zlatarevo and Stanke Lisichkovo border checkpoints, together with another one at the hearth of Sofia, delivered over 5,100 COVID-19 vaccines. People could choose between the products of Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
Both Bulgarians and Macedonians with a permanent or temporary Bulgarian citizenship took advantage of the opportunity to get vaccinated at the border centers. Whole groups of police officers, firefighters and kindergarten staff organized visits to the vaccination points. Dr. Milen Vrabevski explains that the motivation for the initiative was simple – people in RN Macedonia did not have access to the most popular vaccines against COVID-19 for far too long. That is why he decided to act:
„There are over 120,000 citizens with Bulgarian passports in our Western neighbor, we were obliged to think about these people. We have permanent and temporary residents whose families and ancestors are connected with Bulgaria. We follow the European Union’s policy for the integration of the Western Balkans, which includes assistance and care in the pandemic situation. We always think of our brothers and sisters in the Republic of Northern Macedonia”, said Dr. Vrabevski.
