Compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 in the context of the principles of the convention on human rights and biomedicine.

INTRODUCTION: At this stage of the global health crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, an increasing number of countries are considering enacting legislation requiring compulsory vaccination or implementing a mechanism to ensure mass vaccination of the population. Such policy decisions raise a number of legal and deontological issues. AIM: The aim of the study was to analyze the legal and deontological issues related to the introduction of compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 in the context of the principles of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analysis looks at the international legal framework that governs the protection of human rights and freedoms, the principles and rules that apply to the achievements of biology and medicine, and, in particular, the Oviedo Convention. RESULTS: Vaccines against COVID-19 are a modern scientific success in biology and medicine, particularly those of the latest genera-tion of vaccines presented by the scientific community as a consequence of revolutionary mRNA technology. It is for this reason that the provisions of the Oviedo Convention should serve as guidelines for countries to follow in their fight against COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: Achieving mass vaccination of the population in accordance with the provisions of the Oviedo Convention and other rel-evant international standards for the protection of fundamental human rights, in conjunction with a large-scale information campaign, seems a sensible approach that would contribute to the rapid and peaceful resolution of the current global health crisis.

Reliability and cross-cultural validity of the Bulgarian version of IRES-3.

INTRODUCTION: The IRES-3 questionnaire (Indicators of rehabilitation status, version 3) was developed to evaluate the rehabilitation effect in patients with psychosomatic, cardiac, orthopedic, oncologic, neurologic, gastroenterological and other disorders. AIM: The aim of the present study was to validate the Bulgarian version of IRES-3 and assess its reliability and internal consistency. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Validation of the IRES-3 questionnaire was carried out at the Specialized Rehabilitation Hospital, the National Complex PLtd, the Hisar branch. The study included 46 patients: 14 males (30.43%) and 32 females (69.57%). Patients' age ranged between 43 and 75 years (mean age 63.52 +/- 1.27). All participants got preliminary instructions and after that, within a period of one week, they completed the questionnaire two times. To evaluate IRES-3 reliability we used the split-half-reliability model and calculated the Spearman-Brown coefficients (rsb) for each of the scales. Internal consistency was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. We used the mean value of the inter-item correlation coefficients as well. RESULTS: The high values of rsb and Cronbach's coefficient alpha as well as the low values of the inter-item correlation coefficient which were obtained in our study demonstrate that the questionnaire under investigation is of high reliability and internal consistency. Our results are very similar to the results of the original German questionnaire which have been reported in literature. CONCLUSION: The Bulgarian version of the IRES-3 questionnaire shows high reliability and cross-cultural validity and can be applied widely for evaluation of the effect of rehabilitation.