Flu vaccinations: Ministry of Health is changing the system

- We are approaching flu vaccination season. This year the system looks a bit different than last year. We gave up purchasing vaccines from the state budget. However, patients will be able to buy vaccinations in pharmacies. On the other hand, the implementation of the vaccination will be financed from the budget of the National Health Fund - said Deputy Minister Maciej Miłkowski during the Tuesday press conference. Seniors over 75 and pregnant women will be able to take advantage of 100% refund of flu vaccines, while people over 65 will benefit from partial (50%) refunds. The cost of vaccination was estimated by AOTMiT at PLN 21.83 (from PLN 17).

Even health care workers will not be able to count on free vaccinations - the deputy minister said that the National Health Fund would pay their employers only for vaccinations, if such vaccinations were carried out at the workplace, while the spokesman of the health ministry, Wojciech Andrusiewicz, recalled that before the pandemic, many employers in provided its employees with influenza vaccination on their own.

In the last flu season, vaccinations were used, as estimated by the NIPH-PZH, about 7 percent. Poles, or about 3 million people. Experts emphasize that this means almost doubling the pre-pandemic results (Poland has one of the worst rates in Europe when it comes to influenza vaccination). - We estimate that the upward trend will be maintained this year and we have information from producers that the minimum protection of vaccines is to amount to 2 million units - said Maciej Miłkowski, adding that some producers declared the possibility of a flexible increase in supplies.

Elżbieta Piotrowska-Rutkowska, president of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Council, who was present at the conference, admitted that she was counting on a significant increase in the number of pharmacy vaccination points, currently around 2,000. She also announced that training for pharmacists who would like to become licensed to perform vaccinations will resume soon.

The deputy minister also informed that the ministry wants to strengthen pharmacies, and therefore is preparing to increase margins, which have not changed since 2012. Patients, according to the assurances of Maciej Miłkowski, are not to be affected by this change - the costs will be borne by the National Health Fund. Another information important for pharmacists is that the National Health Fund will pay for night, weekend and holiday hours of pharmacies, although only in poviats up to 40,000 inhabitants.