Mainly women and children come to Poland from Ukraine. Many of them will find shelter in our country for a longer time, some may stay with us permanently. The youngest Ukrainians will join their peers in educational institutions and will benefit from Polish healthcare. The Polish health ministry informed that Ukrainian children will be subject to mandatory vaccinations. On what terms? Details below.

  1. The Polish Ministry of Health issued an announcement on preventive vaccinations for Ukrainian refugees
  2. It shows that persons under the age of 19, staying in Poland for more than three months, will be subject to the obligation of preventive vaccinations.
  3. In Poland, compulsory vaccinations for children include, inter alia, vaccination against tuberculosis, hepatitis B, polio, diphtheria and pertussis
  4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage
  5. What’s going on in Ukraine? Follow the broadcast live

Ministry of Health on vaccinating Ukrainian children in Poland

According to the latest announcement from the Ministry of Health, services related to the implementation of preventive vaccinations in children residing in Poland in connection with the armed conflict in Ukraine will be provided in primary health care facilities.

Preventive vaccinations will be carried out according to the following rules:

1. Persons staying on the territory of the Republic of Poland for a period of less than three months may voluntarily undergo preventive vaccinations specified in the Protective Vaccination Program as obligatory for citizens of the Republic of Poland, with the use of vaccines made available by sanitary and epidemiological stations under the existing rules.

2. Neonatal vaccination against tuberculosis and hepatitis B, as well as further vaccinations provided for in the Protective Vaccination Program, are compulsory for children born in the territory of the Republic of Poland.

3. Post-exposure vaccinations, which are required to ensure the health and life of the patient (tetanus, rabies), should be carried out immediately in accordance with the doctor’s decision.

4. Vaccinations are documented in the immunization card or in the vaccination eCard, Vaccination Booklet and medical documentation.

5. The primary health care physician caring for the child shall decide on the commencement, continuation or supplementation of the implementation of protective vaccinations with PSO for 2022, including the dates of vaccinations, in accordance with an individual vaccination schedule.

6. Persons under the age of 19 residing in the territory of the Republic of Poland for more than three months are required to undergo preventive vaccinations in accordance with the Preventive Vaccination Program.

7. Vaccinations of children against COVID-19 are carried out in accordance with the recommendations provided in the announcements of the Minister of Health No. 15, 19, 20 and 21.

Importantly, the ministry decided that in the absence of medical records of vaccinations, the child should be treated as unvaccinated and specific vaccinations should be prescribed. However, in the case of hospitalized children with unknown vaccination status, the status of immunity against viral hepatitis should be assessed by testing the level of anti-HBs antibody.

  1. See also: Free medical assistance for people from Ukraine. Where can you find help?

The rest of the material for the video.

Which vaccinations were considered the most important?

The Ministry of Health also indicated which preventive vaccinations for Ukrainian children are the most important. Priority was considered:

  1. vaccination against measles with MMR vaccine (against measles, mumps and rubella) in the group of the youngest children in the second year of life,
  2. vaccinations against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and poliomyelitis according to age,
  3. hepatitis B according to age,
  4. vaccination against COVID-19 (except PSO).

«In line with the position of the Team for Protective Vaccinations, the Minister of Health recommends protective vaccinations from the day of arrival to Poland in children up to 19 years of age, not vaccinated against infectious diseases, according to the Individual Vaccination Calendar (IKSz), established by the doctor qualifying for vaccination on the basis of the PSO on 2022, with the use of vaccines made available by sanitary and epidemiological stations on the current terms »- the ministry said.

  1. How can a person from Ukraine get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Poland? [WE EXPLAIN]

What immunizations for children are obligatory in Poland?

Protective vaccinations for children in Poland are carried out in accordance with the current Protective Vaccination Program (PSO 2022).

Children are compulsorily vaccinated against:

  1. tuberculosis,
  2. hepatitis B (hepatitis B),
  3. rotavirus infections,
  4. diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough,
  5. invasive Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) infections,
  6. invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcal) infections, 
  7. acute childhood paralysis (poliomyelitis – polio),
  8. measles, mumps and rubella.

Most immunizations start in the first year of life, with subsequent doses given in the following years. The first vaccines are given first, usually in hospital, right after birth. Tuberculosis and hepatitis B vaccines are given. The last vaccine is the third booster dose of diphtheria and tetanus vaccines, which are taken by 19-year-olds.

Compulsory vaccinations for children are free (reimbursed by the National Health Fund).

  1. Read also: Perinatal help for women from Ukraine. Here you will find support [LIST]

Selected vaccinations recommended for children in Poland

Regardless of compulsory vaccinations, it is also possible to receive vaccinations against other infectious diseases. These are the recommended vaccinations. The Polish Ministry of Health recommends, inter alia, vaccinations of children against:

  1. flu 
  2. chicken pox, 
  3. invasive infections with Neisseria meningitidis (meningococci),
  4. Hepatitis A, 
  5. human papillomavirus (HPV).

Vaccinations are usually recommended against payment, but there is a possibility of exemption from payment. For example, Children attending nurseries can be vaccinated free of chickenpox, toddler clubs or other care facilities. From November 23, 2021, you can also get vaccinated against the flu.

The full calendar of preventive vaccinations in Poland for 2022 is available here.

There will be an information campaign on vaccinations for Ukrainian children

Experts are talking louder and louder about the need for immunization of children from Ukraine. Prof. Magdalena Marczyńska, a specialist in childhood infectious diseases from the Medical University of Warsaw, emphasized in an interview with the Polish Press Agency that children from Ukraine need to be helped to catch up with vaccinations against many infectious diseases.

– Let us help, but let us also remember about the differences in the vaccination program and its implementation in both countries. There are also significant differences in the incidence of various infectious diseases – tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis. It is great that Ukrainian children enter our environment and integrate with them. Let it take place, however, even after preliminary qualification by doctors. Let’s try to vaccinate these children, learn about what is happening to them, in order to help them. Not to isolate these children, but so that there would be no more cases of these diseases, and children who required medical care received it as soon as possible, were diagnosed, diagnosed and successfully treated – she emphasized.

Waldemar Kraska, Deputy Minister of Health, also pointed to the problem of low immunization of children from Ukraine against infectious diseases.

– It is not at a high level. That is why we have made it possible to vaccinate against measles, rubella, polio, or childhood diseases. We know that there was a measles epidemic in Ukraine two years ago. According to the act on infectious diseases, everyone under the age of 18 who stays in Poland for more than three months is “obliged” to vaccinate. Up to three months is voluntary, but we are launching an information campaign to encourage parents to vaccinate their children – He said.

The editorial board recommends:

  1. Free dental assistance for people from Ukraine. We have a list of offices
  2. Medical interview forms are also available in Ukrainian
  3. Refugees from Ukraine have to pay 100 percent. for prescription. Change maybe even this week
  4. The National Health Fund will cover the costs of benefits for refugees from Ukraine

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