SOFIA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Bulgaria's COVID-19 death toll has risen to 11,094 after 95 new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, the country's health ministry said Friday.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed infections rose by 3,121 to 272,700, and 1,734 people have recovered from the disease during the same period, raising the country's total recoveries to 221,783, the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the number of active cases in the Balkan country increased to 39,823, the highest figure since Jan. 18.

It added that 6,604 patients are currently hospitalized, the highest number since Dec. 21 last year, with 502 in intensive care.

The ministry also said that 15,301 doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, taking the total number to 324,446.

Bulgaria reported its first COVID-19 death on March 11 last year. The highest daily increase of 221 deaths was reported on Dec. 1, when the country's COVID-19 death toll had risen to 4,035.

According to the latest data collated by the University of Oxford-based Our World in Data, the Balkan country has the highest fatality rate related to the COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union (EU) at 4.1 percent.

Unlike many other European countries, the Bulgarian government still has no intention to introduce a nationwide lockdown despite the recent rise of COVID-19 cases and deaths.

"I believe that the Bulgarian public is not ready at this stage for this type of decision," Health Minister Kostadin Angelov said Thursday.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination campaigns are underway in some countries with already-authorized vaccines.

However, Bulgaria has failed in this regard so far. According to Our World in Data, cumulative COVID-19 vaccination doses administered per 100 people in Bulgaria are 4.45, and the country ranks last in the EU.

Meanwhile, 263 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 81 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization Tuesday. Enditem

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