Health minister outlines plans to broaden vaccination programme
Poland's health minister has said the national vaccination programme against Covid-19 will be opened up, with a withdrawal from the current practice of grouping people.
Adam Niedzielski added that if the current trend is maintained, it will be possible to vaccinate all those wanting the jabs by the end of the summer.
"We have taken a decision that can be called a deep reset of the vaccination system," he told a private radio station on Friday, and explained that fewer people in younger age groups are willing to get vaccinated while there are ever bigger deliveries of vaccine.
"As a result, the government has decided to stop grouping people according to professional criteria," Niedzielski added.
Niedzielski hopes that in April vaccination would start in the workplaces without the need to register.
From Q2 2021, it will be possible to receive the Covid-19 vaccination at a greater number of points, including local hospitals, drive-through points, local government vaccination points and pharmacies.
Asked whether the government is considering extending the programme to include children between 16 and 18 years of age, the health minister said that it depends on the results of tests being conducted by vaccine producers. He added that the Pfizer/BioNTech consortium was carrying out such tests and that their preliminary results were optimistic.
To date, over 6.4 million vaccinations have been performed in Poland and more than 2 million people have had both doses. (PAP)
