On December 6, as announced by the Ministry of Health, vaccination against the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 will start. One could already register for two days, although there was no shortage of technical errors on the first day. One should be careful, if one uses e-registration or enrolls via IKP, about choosing the right vaccine.
Covid vaccinations - before you register, a must-read
Published Dec. 6, 2023 09:43
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Indeed, Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines against the first variants of Omicron are also available in the system, which worked well in the spring, but the virus mutated over several months, and the manufacturers have prepared new formulations more suited to its current form. In Poland, there is one vaccine available against Kraken, from Novavax. Due to a court dispute, Pfizer has not provided its latest vaccine (it is with this preparation that virtually the entire European Union is vaccinated, and has been since late September/early October).
The vaccine will be available at PCP clinics and pharmacies - but by no means all of them. A map of vacant appointments for the vaccine, posted on the website szczepimysie.gov.pl, shows that at the moment the vaccine is and will be available mainly in the largest cities - in Warsaw (as of December 6, 9:00 a.m.) there are more than 9,000 slots (i.e. windows for which one can sign up) available in the next seven days, and more than 29,000 in the prospect of 30 days. Smaller, but also relatively large numbers of appointments are available in Krakow, the Tri-City or the Silesian agglomeration. Outside the major cities, single appointments are available (the map aggregates them at the county level). The number of appointments is likely to increase - the National Health Service informs about more signed contracts with pharmacies and provides an updated list of pharmacy outlets authorized to conduct vaccinations (in some provinces, such as Małopolska, on December 5 there was not a single such outlet). This list is "for today" the only reliable source of information on where to get vaccinated - the map of vaccination points on the government website has long been out of date.
Experts regret that vaccinations are starting with such a huge delay and are not supported by virtually any information campaign, but urge people to take advantage of vaccinations. People in at-risk groups - seniors, patients with chronic diseases, undergoing oncological treatment, and those with compromised immunity - should decide to do so in particular. The vaccine is available to everyone from the age of 12 (with only adults, it is worth remembering, can be vaccinated at pharmacies).
About 210,000 doses of the vaccine were delivered to Poland in the first tranche. The health ministry assures that if there is a demand, the manufacturer will deliver further tranches.
