On Sunday, government officials announced that a second batch of 300,000 COVID-19 vaccines is set to arrive in Poland today, following the initial 300,000 doses delivered last week.
Poland launched its vaccination efforts on December 27 and has thus far administered 150,000 doses of the vaccine, according to the head of Poland’s Material Reserves Agency, Michał Kuczmierowski.
At a press conference last Friday, the prime minister’s chief of staff, Michał Dworczyk, reported that all people from the so-called ‘zero’ group would be vaccinated by the end of this week. The zero group is comprised primarily of frontline medical staff and their families.
By the end of this month, Poland is expected to receive 1.5 mln doses of the vaccine, which was developed by US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, in batches of 300,000 doses each week.
Nearly 1.5 thousand medical personnel have been vaccinated at the University Clinical Center (UCK) in Gdańsk, the largest hospital in Pomerania.
According to UCK officials, over 12,000 individuals, including UCK staff, employees, and students of the Medical University of Gdańsk and people from other medical facilities, have participated in the initial phase of the COVID-19 vaccinations.
The figure includes some 80 percent of medical staff at UCK, many of whom later participated in a promotional video advocating for others to get vaccinated.
The National Vaccine Program’s next stage will prioritize seniors, military personnel, and teachers. Poles who are not in priority groups will be able to sign up for COVID-19 shots beginning January 15.
More information on the immunization program can be found at https://www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie.
Top Polish ski jumper Kamil Stoch is celebrating after winning the third leg of this season’s prestigious Four Hills Tournament in Innsbruck, Austria, yesterday.
The three-time Olympic champion finished ahead of Slovenia’s Anze Lanisek and fellow Poles Dawid Kubacki in 3rd and Piotr Żyła in 4th.
Stoch is now ranked first overall in the tournament, just ahead of Kubacki in 2nd and Norway’s Halvor Egner Granerud in 3rd. Stoch has won the Four Hills tournament series twice before, in 2016-2017 and again in 2017-2018. He remains one of only three ski jumpers in history to win the „grand slam” of all four competitions in a single Four Hills Tournament.
The fourth and final leg of the competition will take place in Bischofshofen on Wednesday, January 6.
Białowieża Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Poland’s oldest national park, is set to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.
The park’s centenary celebrations will include online lectures, contests for children, educational campaigns on social media, and a special conference on “the current state of research on the objects of protection in Białowieża National Park and questions about the future.”
Straddling the border between Poland and neighboring Belarus, the Białowieża Forest is Europe’s only remaining primeval forest. It is home to some of Europe’s most vulnerable protected species, including the famed “żubr,” or European bison.
Weather
Today will be cloudy and cold, with a light breeze coming in from the northeast and a chance of snow overnight. Temperatures will remain just above freezing during the day, with a high of 1°C, or 34°F, dropping to 0°C or 32°F overnight. Similar weather is expected tomorrow, with a chance for rain or snow tomorrow and Wednesday.
Elizabeth Peck/ako
