KZ: inclusion regarding influenza vaccination in the draft act on clinical trials

The flu season is in full swing, and the level of vaccination of Poles against influenza is at the bottom - by the beginning of January, slightly more than 700,000 of us had been vaccinated. The Ministry of Health, which complicated the path to vaccination in the summer, now wants to shorten it and give pharmacists the opportunity to write full prescriptions for vaccines - thanks to this, adults (children and adolescents are vaccinated under the supervision of a doctor) will not have to apply for a medical prescription. During one visit to the pharmacy, it will be possible to obtain a referral, qualify and be vaccinated with such a preparation.

The problem is that the preparation of the government draft would take time - so the ministry decided to take advantage of the parliamentary right to submit amendments and the relevant provisions to the act, in the part amending the Pharmaceutical Law, were proposed by Paweł Rychlik (PiS). The opposition had reservations. Rajmund Miller, the vice-chairman of KZ (KO), emphasized that while the idea is correct, the inclusion of this provision in the act on clinical trials creates a legislative mess - despite this, he announced that his club would support the amendment. The parliamentary legislator also said that the change goes far beyond the subject matter of the submission. However, the members of the United Right had no doubts. It is true that Tomasz Latos, the chairman of the Health Committee, agreed that the amendment touches on a different matter than the act itself, but he stressed that due to the current epidemiological situation, its adoption becomes justified. – This is the first health protection act that we are dealing with, and it is reasonable for such a solution to be introduced as soon as possible, which is why I personally support this solution – he stated.

However, the quick entry into force of the regulations is questionable - for this to be possible, the Senate would have to deal with the bill passed this week (the Senate meeting will be held parallel to the Sejm meeting), because the next one is scheduled for February 8-9 . Of course, the calendar may change, but for now there are no indications that the act with the "throw in" regarding flu vaccinations could be introduced - in the optimistic scenario, assuming no amendments by the Senate, in mid-February.