At the end of March, the Ministry of Health announced that in the 2022/2023 season it would abandon the continuation of the budget-funded public flu vaccination program. The decision took effect on March 31, 2022 and was met with numerous comments from pharmacists.
The pharmacist Łukasz Pietrzak explained in an interview with Wirtualna Polska that the withdrawal of pharmacies from contracting flu vaccines is dictated by a legal aspect related to the departure from the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland.
«Qualifications and vaccination against COVID-19, and from January also against influenza, have been introduced in pharmacies for the duration of the epidemic threat related to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, if we endure the state of epidemic in Poland, it is clear that the authorizations that allowed pharmacists to qualify and perform vaccinations no longer apply » — said Pietrzak.
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Łukasz Pietrzak also said that the withdrawal of pharmacies from contracting influenza vaccines is primarily due to the resignation of the Ministry of Health from continuing the program of public vaccination against influenza financed from the state budget.
«This decision will definitely reduce the number of people willing to get flu vaccinations. Last year has shown that free vaccines have increased the flu vaccination rate by several percent. Before the pandemic, 3,5 to 4 percent were vaccinated. population, currently it is 7%, which should be considered a success, especially since its level was largely limited by the shortage of flu vaccines on our market. In addition, a legal problem will also arise in connection with this decision, because a pharmacist may issue a prescription for a vaccine, but only if health or life is at risk. The problem could be solved by issuing a prescription for the vaccine, pricing the service related to administering the vaccine, and then selling it » — Pietrzak explains.
The vice-president of the Supreme Pharmaceutical Council, Marek Tomków, criticized the decision of the Ministry of Health on Twitter.
«Pharmacies are completely withdrawing from contracting flu vaccines. So does the Ministry of Health. The nearest season of 2022/2023 will be vaccinated in Cieszyn. Only Czech » — Marek Tomków wrote.
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