Both the World Health Organization and the European Union Medicines Agency are meeting today to review the safety of the AstraZeneca Coronavirus vaccine.
A growing number of countries have suspended use of the jab amid isolated reports of blood clots in vaccinated people. A very small number of people are reported to have died from the clots, though it is not yet known if the vaccine was the cause. According to AstraZeneca on Sunday, 40 cases of blood clots had been reported out of around 17 million people who have so far taken the vaccine in the UK and EU.
In Europe, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain yesterday halted vaccinations with the AstraZeneca jab, though other counties – including the UK, Australia, and Poland – are continuing to use it.
Public health bodies including the World Health Organization and the EU’s medicines regulator have said the vaccine is safe to use with no causal link found between the drug and the cases of blood clots.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Poland’s Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said Poland would continue using the vaccine, adding that the public health benefits in fighting COVID-19 outweigh the low risk of side effects.
Poland’s central bank could be set to purchase as much as 100 tonnes of gold, that’s according to the bank’s governor Adam Glapiński.
Speaking in an interview with Polish magazine Sieci, Mr Glapiński said buying the gold would help improve Poland’s image as a developed nation as well as shielding the Polish economy and the Zloty against economic shocks.
Glapiński, who is running for a second term as National Bank of Poland governor, has long been an advocate for building Poland’s gold reserves. In his interview with Sieci, Glapiński claimed to have more than doubled Poland’s stockpile of gold during his first term to 229 tonnes.
Polish courier firm InPost has revealed it plans to buy French counterpart Mondial Relay as it looks to expand its presence outside of Poland.
If approved by regulators, the deal would see InPost – one of Poland’s largest couriers – buy the French delivery firm for EUR 565 million in cash.
InPost does currently have limited operations in other countries, but the purchase would vastly increase its international presence and could almost double the company’s revenue.
InPost has seen rapid growth over the past year as the pandemic kept people at home and reliant on delivery services. The company made its Initial Public Offering on the Amsterdam stock exchange where it was valued at EUR 9.5 billion.
In Gdansk, the city has honoured some of its most noteworthy cultural success stories of the past year.
The annual Splendor Gedanensis prize in the field of culture recognises Gdansk citizens for their contributions to the city’s cultural wealth.
The award – usually presented at a gala at the Wybrzeze Theatre – saw a scaled back, online ceremony this year presented by actress Małgorzata Brajner. The ceremony also took on a more sombre tone than usual, without the customary musical performance, as the city’s artistic community mourns the loss of local cultural legend Professor Jerzy Limon, co-founder and director of the Gdansk Shakespeare Theatre, himself a recipient of the prize.
This year’s awards went to:
– Catholic Prelate Ireneusz Bradtke for his work in restoring and protecting St Mary’s Basilica.
– Authors Dorota Karas and Marek Sterlingow for their book 'Walentynowicz: Anna Szuka Raju’ about the remarkable 1980s Solidarity trade unionist and Polish democracy campaigner Anna Walentynowicz.
– And carillonist Monika Kaźmierczak, who has helped to popularise the ancient Gdansk tradition of bell music – a tradition recognised this year on Poland’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
Weather:
Mostly sunny today with some cloudy spells. Highs today of 5C, 41F, with a slight chance of a snow shower in the evening. Much the same story tomorrow with temperatures set to warm up into the high single-figures Celsius over the coming days.
Radio Gdansk News
