Government urges Poles to “trust science” as it begins Covid vaccine rollout

Poland’s government has announced special privileges for those who vaccinate against coronavirus, including exemptions from quarantine requirements, as it begins the rollout of its national vaccination programme.

It has also launched a campaign to encourage the public to register for the jabs, after surveys have shown Poles to be sceptical about taking them.

On Sunday morning, Alicja Jakubowska, chief nurse at the Interior Ministry Central Hospital in Warsaw (pictured above), became the first person in Poland to be vaccinated after the first transport of 10,000 doses had arrived the day before. A further 300,000 were delivered today.

According to the government’s vaccination timetable, the first to receive the voluntary jabs – “group zero” – will be healthcare workers. Around 300,000 of them have already “declared willingness” to be vaccinated, said the health minister, Adam Niedzielski, on Sunday, reports PAP.

In January, vaccinations will then be rolled out to those above the age of 60 years, members of the uniformed services, and teachers, as well as those in social welfare housing (DPS) and nursing homes (ZOL).

As Poland began its vaccination programme on Sunday, the government announced that those who have taken the vaccine – and have received the certification after the second dose – will be exempt from some lockdown rules, which were strengthened today, reports Business Insider.

Notably, there will be an exemption from the requirement to quarantine after coming into contact with someone who is infected, or after entering the country on mass transport. Moreover, those who have taken the vaccine will not count towards the five-person limit on guests from outside the household at private gatherings.

They will also be able to attend medical rehabilitation and will not need to show negative coronavirus test results to be placed in a social care facility or nursing home.

Yet many Poles remain sceptical of the vaccine, with one survey last week finding that the public are much more worried about taking the vaccine than they are about the virus itself.

A new poll by United Surveys for RMF FM and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna, published today, shows that over a quarter of respondents (26.9%) would be more willing to take the vaccine if they received information “dispelling worries about the side-effects and effectiveness of the vaccine”.

A further 26% said that they could be persuaded by arguments about how getting vaccinated would “benefit the whole of society”.

In response to such concerns, the government has launched an advertising campaign to encourage Poles to get the jab, emphasising that doing so can benefit their loved ones. It also plans to open a helpline for vaccine registrations by 15 January.

Speaking on Monday morning, the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, appealed to Poles to “trust science and medicine”. Over the weekend, he had said that he would himself sign up for the vaccination “on the first day” possible.

“We have a choice between fear and risk, or hope and safety,” Morawiecki said during a press conference at Warsaw airport to welcome the arrival of the latest delivery of vaccine doses.

The government has previous said that it has to the capacity to vaccinate up to 3.5 million people per month, and that it hopes that at least 70-80% of the population will choose to vaccinate themselves.

Main image credit: Adam Guz/KPRM/Flickr (under public domain)

Maria Wilczek

Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.