President Andrzej Duda ratified a major military deal with the United States yesterday, paving the way for at least 1,000 more American troops to be stationed in Poland.

The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) was ratified in a ceremony that included Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak as well as the US Ambassador to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher.

Poland, a staunch US military ally, has reportedly been pursuing the agreement as a means of strengthening the NATO alliance and bolstering security on Poland’s eastern border with Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.

The additional troops will join the roughly 4,500 Americans already stationed in Poland on a rotating basis.

Source: Radio Poland

US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer – along with its German partner BioNTech –  announced yesterday that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in clinical trials, making the vaccine a prime contender for accelerated regulatory approval.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki later told a news conference that Poland would have access to the vaccine on an equal footing with other European Union members and „in proportion to the size of the population” under an EU agreement signed over the summer.

Morawiecki also said that he had issued instructions for an infrastructure to be put in place next year for nationwide vaccinations against COVID-19, with the vaccine to first be made available to senior citizens, healthcare professionals, and law enforcement personnel.

Source: Radio Poland

On Monday, the Polish Health Ministry reported 21,713 new coronavirus infections and 173 additional deaths, bringing the total number of cases to 568,138 and fatalities to 8,045.

Of the over half-million cases in Poland, over 200,000 (209,363) have recovered from the disease. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Morawiecki issued a plea for all those who have recovered to „please give blood if you can. By becoming a blood donor and donating plasma, you will be helping save lives.”

Doctors say the plasma of people who have recovered from the coronavirus contains antibodies that can help seriously ill patients fight the infection.

Source: Radio Poland

Due to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, many of tomorrow’s traditional Independence Day festivities will be held online instead of in person.

Instead of taking part in the traditional parades, marches, and collective singing events, people across the country have been encouraged to join in the collective singing of the „Dąbrowski Mazurka,” the Polish national anthem, at 12:00 on Wednesday. Radio Gdańsk will be broadcasting the event, and residents of Trójmiasto are encouraged to join the event from the comfort of their own homes.

Residents are also reminded of the „W Hołdzie Niepodległości” concert taking place at 16:00 at St. Brigid in Gdańsk. The event will be broadcast live on TVP3 Gdańsk and the Facebook page of the Museum of the Second World War. The special concert will then be rebroadcast on Radio Gdańsk at 21:00.

More information on Independence Day events is available here.

Weather

Today will be partly cloudy and cool, with a brisk breeze coming in from the southeast and only a slight chance of rain overnight. Temperatures will peak around a high of 8°C, or 47°F, dropping to an overnight low of 2°C or 36°F. Similar cool, cloudy weather is expected tomorrow, with sunnier weather returning over the weekend.

EP/am