Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters during a press conference yesterday that the Polish government aims to vaccinate all Polish residents willing to receive shots by the end of August. In order to achieve this goal, the number of approved vaccination sites is set to be expanded in the second quarter of the year, allowing vaccinations to take place in approved GP clinics, local government offices, drive-through checkpoints, some workplaces, and pharmacies.
The field of those qualified to administer vaccines will also be expanded to include dentists, medical assistants, nurses, midwives, paramedics, laboratory diagnosticians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, and graduating medical students.
Nearly 6 million (of 5,963,933) COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered in Poland so far. Health ministry data shows that nearly 4 million people have received the initial first shot, while more than 2 million people have received both shots.
Source: Radio Gdańsk, Radio Poland
Polish lawmakers passed a resolution yesterday calling on the international community to help stop the alleged persecution of Poles in Belarus.
In the resolution passed by acclamation on Tuesday, the lower house of Poland’s parliament said it was standing in solidarity with members of the Polish minority detained and repressed in Belarus, including Andżelika Borys and Andrzej Poczobut.
The resolution demands that those detained be released as soon as possible and that all repression against Polish minority leaders in Belarus be stopped.
Polish MPs also opposed “any interference in the operation of Polish minority organizations,” especially the Association of Poles in Belarus and the Forum of Polish Local Initiatives in and around the city of Brest and the Polish-Belarusian border.
Source: Radio Poland
An untitled painting by the Polish surrealist painter Zdzisław Beksiński was sold at a private auction in Sopot for a record-breaking 800,000 PLN last weekend.
The buyer of the 1983 Beksiński work will have to pay almost a million PLN (215,000 EUR) after the addition of the 20 percent auction fee. The final bid was more than twice the expected bid of 300-400 thousand PLN and nearly 5 times the starting price of 200,000 PLN.
In addition to the Beksiński painting, the auction also included works by several other outstanding Polish post-war artists, including Nowosielski, Dwurnik, Tarasin, Hasior, Szajna, Bereźnicki, and Starowieyski.
Source: Radio Gdańsk
A recent annual count of European bison has estimated that 2,316 of the rare species are currently living in Poland, nearly 50 more than in 2019.
According to experts from the Białowieża National Park, 2,115 of the animals are living in six areas in the wild: 715 in the primeval Białowieża Forest, 707 in the Bieszczady region, 334 in herds in western Poland, 214 in the Knyszyńska Forest, 128 in the Borecka Forest, and 17 in the Augustowska Forest.
The Białowieża Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains the last protected remnants of the primeval forest that once covered most of the continent. European bison were reintroduced in Białowieża some 90 years ago after nearly going extinct.
Source: Radio Poland
Various cultural outlets in Poland have been honoring the celebrated Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki on the first anniversary of his death.
Because of the COVID lockdown, most music venues are hosting events online. The Opera in Kraków screened a production of “The Devils of Loudun,” while the National Forum of Music in Wrocław aired the “Hommage a Penderecki,” which can currently be viewed on their YouTube page.
Source: Radio Poland
Weather
Today will again be sunny and warm, with a light breeze coming in from the west and very little chance of rain during the day. Temperatures will be a bit warmer than yesterday, with an afternoon high of 18°C, or 64°F, dropping to a low of 6°C or 43°F overnight. Rain is again in the forecast overnight, with Thursday set to be cool and cloudy.
EP/pb
