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Poland could start COVID-19 vaccinations in second half of January: official

23.11.2020 15:58
Poland could realistically launch an anti-coronavirus vaccination programme in the second half of January, an official has said.
Image by HeungSoon from Pixabay
Image by HeungSoon from Pixabay Pixabay licence

Deputy Health Minister Waldemar Kraska said on Monday that first in line to be vaccinated will be high-risk groups, mainly the elderly.

Other priority groups will include health-care workers and police, Kraska added.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that his government has set up a working group with experts from US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer amid efforts to make a COVID-19 vaccine available to Poles as quickly as possible.

The European Union has struck a deal to buy up to 300 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Morawiecki said earlier this month that millions of vaccines were likely to reach his country next spring as part of a European deal with drug makers.

Vaccinations will be voluntary, and the government is planning a media campaign encouraging Poles to have shots, public broadcaster Polish Radio reported.

Poland on Monday reported 15,002 new coronavirus infections and 156 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases to 876,333 and fatalities to 13,774.

(pk)

Source: IAR/Polish Radio