More than 3 million people in Poland are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, that’s according to figures from the Ministry of Health.
As of yesterday, more than 12 million doses had been administered in total, with just under 3.2 million fully immunised against the virus. Just over 9 million are on their first dose of a vaccine – for most currently authorised vaccines, two doses are needed for full immunity.
The figures point to a significant acceleration of the country’s vaccination programme, with registration for the jab set to open to all adults by Monday.
In another development, Poland has reportedly offered to buy unwanted doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from Denmark.
Earlier this week, Danish authorities announced they would not be using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after it was linked to rare cases of blood clots.
According to reports by Polish news outlet Polsat News, the Polish government has since written to Denmark offering to buy the unwanted doses.
Poland and many other European countries have said the harm of delaying vaccinations and extended the pandemic outweighs the very small risk of blood clots.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is also the only currently authorised vaccine to need only a single dose to provide maximum protection from COVID-19.
The lower house of the Polish Parliament has passed a bill opening the doors for tens of billions of euros in EU relief funds for Poland.
The bill to ratify the EU’s €750 billion Covid recovery fund passed by 290 votes to 33, with 133 abstentions. The proposal, which will now go to the Senate, passed despite division within the government benches as some opposition parties crossed the house to support the bill.
MPs from the United Poland (Solidarna Polska) party – a junior member of the governing coalition – broke ranks to oppose ratifying the EU plan, arguing that accepting the funds would damage Polish sovereignty.
United Poland party leader Zbigniew Ziobro last month described the plan as „the diktat of Berlin and Brussels”.
Almost all MPs from leading opposition party Civic Platform abstained from the vote. Some in the party had hoped the bill would fail, potentially paving the way for early elections.
Under the EU plan, Poland is set to receive as much as €23 billion in grants with a further €34 billion in the form of low-interest loans.
Poland is the 20th country to ratify the plan, which needs the support of all 27 member states to be approved.
„A truly momentous piece of legislation” with a „liberating and democratic message” – that’s how Poland’s President Andrzej Duda described the May 3rd Constitution in an English-language article this week.
Published in conservative British monthly magazine „The Critic”, the piece goes into the historical importance of the 1791 Polish-Lithuanian Constitution and the history of democratic ideas in Poland generally.
Read the article at thecritic.co.uk.
In sports news, we should find out today which two teams will go head to head in the Europa League Final set to be held in Gdansk later this month.
Two matches this evening will decide the finalists: Roma v Manchester United and Villarreal v Arsenal.
Man U have a strong advantage going into tonight’s match with Roma, winning the first leg of the semi-final 6-2. The second game is much more closely fought, with Villarreal scraping a 2-1 victory in their first match with Arsenal.
Both games are scheduled for 9 pm tonight.
Best of luck to thousands of school students across Poland today who sat their English language Matura exam.
This morning’s exam in foundation-level English got started at 9 am in more than 300 Pomeranian schools and thousands more across the nation.
High school leavers will have to wait until the summer for official results, but media outlets will be publishing answers later today.
Weather
Mostly cloudy with sunny spells going into this afternoon, highs of 11C, 51F.
Gusty winds hanging around throughout the day with a chance for some heavy showers later in the afternoon.
Tomorrow looking cloudy and cool but more settled with showers and light winds.
TH/am
