PM: booster shots for adults in "a few weeks"

Poland reported 5,559 new coronavirus infections and 75 deaths on Wednesday. While this is well below the peak of the third wave in spring when cases topped 35,000, pushing the health service to the brink, it is more than double the number reported a week ago.

Poland's Medical Council, presided by PM Morawiecki, was held on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was devoted to the issue of COVID vaccine booster shots.

"Another meeting with Medical Council experts is behind us. At today's session, I thanked my advisors for their recommendation to extend the booster shot target group," Morawiecki said in Facebook post.

"Together with Health Ministry chief Adam Niedzielski, we've decided that vaccinations (with third doses) will be launched over the next few weeks. Those over 18 who had their last dose at least six months ago will be able to get another dose," he added.

Central Europe has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases over recent days, fuelling fears that vaccination rates that are lower than in the west of the continent could fan a damaging fresh wave of infections.

"Over the last two days we have seen an explosion of the pandemic," Adam Niedzielski told a news conference earlier on Wednesday. "We have increases from week to week of 85% and over 100%." He added that daily cases could be "well above" 5,000 next week. "We will want to observe if this trend continues for a few days, and maybe we will have to take drastic measures," Niedzielski said, while adding that there was currently no discussion in government about imposing another lockdown. Asked what he meant by "drastic" measures, Niedzielski said it would involve stricter enforcement of existing rules about wearing masks and practicing social distancing. Poland's vaccination programme has slowed significantly in recent months, and lower case numbers have led many people to feel they can disregard the few restrictions still in place. Niedzielski said both of these facts were contributing to the surge, as he urged Poles to get a COVID injection and follow the rules, for example by wearing masks in enclosed spaces.