Poland accelerates vaccine rollout, pledging jabs for all who want them by end of August

Poland’s government has announced that it is accelerating the planned rollout of coronavirus vaccines by more quickly opening up registration to the whole population. It has pledged to offer jabs to everyone who wants them by the end of August.

At a press conference, the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, noted that his government had met its target of administering six million vaccines by the end of the first quarter. As of this morning, 5.97 million doses have been administered, with the vaccination rate increasing over time.

“By the end of the second quarter, we will perform a total of 20 million vaccinations, and by the end of August we want to vaccinate all those who want to be vaccinated,” declared Morawiecki. Poland has a total population of around 38 million people. Only people aged 18 or over are currently eligible for vaccination.Speaking alongside the prime minister, his chief of staff, Michał Dworczyk, who is overseeing the vaccine rollout, noted that during the first quarter the “biggest challenge was the availability of the vaccine, [but] in the second it will be the efficiency” of distribution.

Dworczyk added that in April over five million doses will be delivered to Poland. As such, the government is expanding the number and type of vaccination points and staff who are allowed to administer the jabs.

As well as the hospitals and primary care facilities that currently offer the vaccines, in the second quarter further facilities – such as pharmacies, local authorities and large workplaces – will be able to administer them. Drive-through vaccination points will also be created.

In addition to the current medical staff – such as doctors, nurses and paramedics – who can administer vaccines, in the second quarter other groups, including pharmacists, physiotherapists and final-year medical students, will also be allowed to do so.

In order to accelerate distribution of the vaccine, the government is also abandoning its planned schedule to offer a more “flexible approach”.

“We have decided to abandon stages II and III [of the planned rollout] and introduce vaccination of the population,” said Dwoczyk today.

From 12 April, people born in the year 1962 will be able to register for vaccines. Over the subsequent 12 days, further year groups will be able to do so, with all those born in 1973 or earlier being able to sign up by 25 April.

“We made [these] decisions in response to the pandemic situation,” added the health minister, Adam Niedzielski. “We must increase the number of vaccinated people to reach the level of a natural barrier against COVID-19.”

Poland is currently experiencing its highest ever infection rates, with an average of over 27,000 new cases per day over the last week. In response, the government has introduced new restrictions and also tightened quarantine rules for international arrivals.

“The return to normality that we all long for depends on this [vaccination] programme,” said Morawiecki. “It is a test of the efficiency of state structures, our organisational abilities.”

Main image credit: Krystian Maj/KPRM (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.