Elderly queue for vaccine registration in Poland as system hit by delays

Jan 22, 2021 | COVID-19

As registration for coronavirus vaccines for those aged over 70 began today in Poland, many elderly people were left queueing outside for hours. Others reported difficulties getting through on overburdened helplines, only to eventually find out that there were no free vaccination slots available.

Government officials attributed problems to delays in the supply of vaccines to Poland, saying that registration is limited by the number available. A spokesman said that legal steps are being considered against one producer, Pfizer, if there are any further delays.

Medical staff were the first to receive vaccinations in Poland, followed by those aged over 80, who were allowed to register last week. Today, the system opened up to those aged above 70. Those wishing to sign up for a slow could do so online, by telephone or in person.

Many chose the third option. Some already began queuing during the night, waiting for registration points to open in the morning, reports Wirtualna Polska. At around 6.30am, a reporter from Radio Zet tweeted photos showing “dozens” of people waiting in line in Wrocław.

“I don’t have internet, I know nothing about it, I couldn’t reach the helpline so I prefer to come in person,” a man from Łódź told Wirtualna Polska.

“At our age, even if we have a cool smartphone, we don’t know how to register, and nobody answers the helpline,” said another woman waiting to register.

With many people reporting being unable to get through on the special helpline, the government encouraged people to turn to online registration or to send a text message and wait for a consultant to call them back when appointment dates become available.

The government official overseeing the vaccination rollout, Michał Dworczyk, appealed to seniors to avoid registering in person “at all costs” due to the risk of infection while queuing, reports TVN24.

He also announced that over 150,000 people had managed to register in the first three hours after the process began. Poland has almost 2.4 million people aged between 70 and 79.

“A lot of people are angry as they wanted to register today. The fact that they can’t stems from the lack of vaccines. We can’t register anyone without the delivery guarantees,” Dworczyk explained, quoted by Onet. 

There have since last week been delays in deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer. This week Poland received only 176,000 doses, instead of the expected 360,000. The firm says that the “temporary” slowdown is the result of changes to its manufacturing process that will soon allow it to supply more doses than previously planned.

The Polish government is “considering legal measures” against Pfizer if there are more delivery delays, spokesman Piotr Müller told state radio today.

Poland’s coronavirus vaccine rollout delayed by EU delivery bottlenecks

Dworczyk added that the government cannot predict when new appointment dates will be available. If the vaccine developed by Astra Zeneca receives EU approval, there may be additional slots in February or March. But otherwise, some over-70s might need to wait at least until April to get the jab.

More than 1.2 million vaccine doses have arrived in Poland to date, enough for 600,000 people (as the government puts aside half for second doses).

Some 40,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived in Poland on Wednesday and were supposed to be all transported directly to medical points conducting vaccinations. Yet today Michał Kuczmierowski, head of the state Material Reserves Agency (ARM), said that they will only be delivered to hospitals on Monday.

“The fact that we withheld distribution of the Moderna vaccine has not influenced the vaccine rollout, as the general number of vaccines doses made available is similar,” assured Kuczmierowski, quoted by Puls Medycyny, a medical website.

Main image credit: Slawomir Kaminski / Agencja Gazeta

Pin It on Pinterest

Support us!