Fourth COVID-19 vaccine doses for all adults in Poland will be available most likely with the beginning of September - Health Minister Adam Niedzielski informed on Wednesday (August 3). Senior citizens have been gradually receiving fourth doses already since April.
Fourth COVID-19 vaccination for people aged 80+ in Poland has been opened already on April 20, and three months later the second booster shots have been opened for those 60+. Apart from the senior citizens, also severely immunocompromised people aged 12+ are already eligible for the fourth dose.
"Already 750,000 from 60+ and 12+ with impaired immune system groups have registered for the fourth dose of vaccination against COVID-19. As many as 300,000 have been vaccinated," Minsiter of Health Adam Niedzielski said on Twitter on Wednesday.
He added that "everything suggests the fourth dose for the general public, at least 18+, will be available with the beginning of September".
On July 27-28, people who have been referred for second booster shots against COVID-19, and have not yet registered for vaccinations, received txt messages from the Ministry of Health. The messages encourage people aged 60+ and 12+ with impaired immunity to register for vaccination.
The ministry informed on Wednesday there had been 4,479 infections reported in the last 24 hours, including 758 repeated cases. 16 COVID patients died, the ministry said.
In the period between July 28 and August 3, 21,973 infections were reported, including 3,577 repeated cases. 73 people died during that week, the ministry informed.
Since the start of the pandemic on March 4, 2020, Poland has reported 6,080,398 infection cases and 116,608 COVID-related deaths.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, Health Ministry spokesperson Wojciech Andrusiewicz was asked if the government was considering introducing additional restrictions. "Most countries have either already lifted restrictions or are lifting them. At the moment in Europe introducing any restrictions is out of the question. The only protection against the coronavirus that we are and will be using are vaccinations," he replied.
Andrusiewicz added, however, that "if there's a need, we can extend the duty to cover mouth and nose outside the health care segment (at the moment masks are mandatory only in health service institutions - edit.)". "But it all will depend on how we as a society will approach the fight against COVID-19," he added.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP