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Over half a million Poles vaccinated for COVID-19: gov't data

20.01.2021 10:50
A total of 541,229 people have been vaccinated against the coronavirus in Poland so far, officials said on Wednesday.
The first vaccines for the coronavirus were administered in Poland on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, as part of a coordinated rollout across the European Union.
The first vaccines for the coronavirus were administered in Poland on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, as part of a coordinated rollout across the European Union.Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

Public health authorities said that 195 adverse reactions had been reported among those who received the shots by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,753 doses have been wasted in the rollout, according to officials.

Poland on Wednesday reported 6,919 new coronavirus infections and 443 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases to 1,450,747 and fatalities to 34,141.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced last month that his government had secured vaccines for the Polish population from six leading international drug makers.

So far, a total of 1,257,300 vaccine doses have been delivered to the country, according to the Polish Prime Minister's Office.

On Monday, the latest shipment of 176,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech arrived at Warsaw's Chopin Airport, according to the prime minister's top aide, Michał Dworczyk, who is in charge of the vaccination process.

The Polish prime minister's top aide, Michał Dworczyk (right), and Michał Kuczmierowski (left), head of the government's Material Reserves Agency (ARM), brief reporters on the progress of the country's vaccination campaign. The Polish prime minister's top aide, Michał Dworczyk (right), and Michał Kuczmierowski (left), head of the government's Material Reserves Agency (ARM), brief reporters on the progress of the country's vaccination campaign. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański

Last Tuesday, a first batch of 27,000 doses of a vaccine produced by US drug maker Moderna was delivered to the country.

At the end of last month, the government launched a media campaign called Szczepimy Się (Let's Get Vaccinated) to encourage Poles to get COVID-19 shots.

In the first quarter of this year, a total of 2.94 million people are expected to be vaccinated for COVID-19 throughout the country.

Healthcare workers are the top priority group for inoculation, followed by nursing home residents, people over 70, police, soldiers and teachers.

Citizens over 80 have been able to sign up for COVID-19 shots since January 15. On Friday, registration will open to those in the 70+ age group. Vaccinations for this group are due to begin on January 25.

Poland on Monday began vaccinating elderly people living in care homes.

Around 70,000 nursing home residents are expected to be inoculated in the effort, which is due to run until the end of the week.

Poland plans to spend PLN 3 billion (EUR 675 million, USD 820 million) on over 60 million doses of coronavirus vaccines under a national inoculation plan adopted by the government.

Almost 6,000 vaccination sites are expected to be available to citizens as the country rolls out its COVID-19 immunization campaign.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, gov.pl