Vaccination of the population against the new type of coronavirus should reach 65 to 70 percent for efficacy, stated the Czech Health Minister Jan Blatný.
The Czech Republic is interested in 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from the American company Pfizer, which would be enough for 2 million people. According to him, the first vaccines could arrive in the Czech Republic in January or February, and in an optimistic scenario, even before the end of this year, according to the Czech News Agency.
All vaccine purchases will be approved by the European Medicines Agency. The government has previously approved the purchase of 3 million doses of another type of serum from AstraZeneca.
“The objective is to get to about 65 to 70 percent vaccination because then we will have won,” Blatný said. The goal is now convincing a skeptical Czech population, with surveys showing that a majority of them reject a coronavirus vaccine and do not trust vaccines in general.
Blatný claims that there was a huge amount of misinformation about vaccination. The priority group for the first doses of vaccination will be seniors and health professionals, the minister stated. The goal is for the vaccine to be covered by health insurance for all those in need, he added.