Polish health officials announced they are expecting some 300,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID vaccine to arrive in the second half of April.
In comments during a press conference last week, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski expressed hope that the addition of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would help move Poland closer to its goal of vaccinating 60 to 70 percent of the population by next autumn.
According to government health data, 5,845,811 residents in Poland have received at least the first dose of currently available COVID-19 vaccines, with over 85,000 shots being administered across Poland on a daily basis.
Additional restrictions came into effect over the weekend in response to the continuing surge in coronavirus infections across Poland.
Kindergartens and nursery schools will remain closed for the next two weeks, along with hairdressers, beauty salons, furniture stores, and sports facilities. Large retail outlets and churches are also restricted as to the number of people allowed on their premises at any given time.
According to health officials, the weekly average of new coronavirus cases has already reached the levels of the previous wave, and current COVID-19 hospitalization rates are substantially higher compared to rates from the second wave last autumn.
Nearly 800 patients suffering from COVID-19 have been admitted to hospitals in Poland since last Friday, with 80% of reported cases being attribute to the newer, more highly-contagious variant first identified in Britain.
On Sunday, Poland reported over 29,253 new coronavirus infections and 131 more deaths, bringing its total number of cases during the pandemic to 2,250,991 and fatalities to 51,884.
Prominent Shakespeare scholar, humanities professor, and theatre historian Jerzy Limon was laid to rest on Saturday in an intimate family ceremony in Sopot.
The burial was preceded by a mass and remembrance concert at St. John’s Church (Kosciol Sw. Jana) in Gdańsk, which including the Capella Gedanensis orchestra and choir, leading Polish actors, and representatives of the government and local authorities.
During the ceremony, Marek Głuchowski, the honorary consul of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, read a tribute letter from Prince Charles. In addition to numerous other accolades, Limon was honored by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014 with the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his work as founder and director of the Shakespeare Theatre and annual Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk.
Limon passed away on March 3 at the age of 71 due to complications with COVID-19.
Poland’s national football team beat Andorra 3-0 at home on Sunday in its second 2022 World Cup qualifier.
The victory marked a welcome change from the opening match against the 40th-ranked Hungarian national team in Budapest last week, which resulted in a disappointing 3-3 draw.
The Polish team will now take on top-ranked England in the next World Cup qualifying fixture in London this Wednesday.
Source: Radio Poland
The Polish ski jumping team finished runner-up behind Norway in the final 2020/2021 ski-jumping World Cup competition in Planica, Slovenia, on Sunday.
Three-time Olympic champion Kamil Stoch finished third in the individual World Cup standings, just behind Markus Eisenbichler of Germany in second and Halvor Egner Granerud of Norway in first.
Weather
Today will be mostly cloudy and wet, with a light breeze coming in from the southwest and a good chance of rain throughout the day. Temperatures will continue to stay on the warm side, with an afternoon high of 10°C, or 50°F, dropping to a low of 8°C or 46°F overnight. Warm, sunny weather is expected for tomorrow, with a chance for rain showers returning later in the week.
Elizabeth Peck/ako
