The outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš spoke at a joint press conference alongside new Prime Minister Petr Fiala. For once, the two strong politicians of the Czech Republic left the political rivalry behind them and were on familiar ground on vaccination goals. The press conference was held on Tuesday morning to support the group “Doctors Helping Czechia ” to ensure that at least a million people will receive their third Covid jab within one week.
“The epidemic concerns us all. Politics must be set aside. It is good that we are standing here. It is necessary to get to the vaccination capacity we had in June when almost 130,000 people a day were vaccinated, “stated Babiš. “There are times when we need to show common will,” Fiala added. Both Babiš and Fiala refused to discuss the differences in their opinions on mandatory vaccination, as the initiative’s goals are not related to politics.
Vaccination centres will be restored
According to Andrej Babiš, vaccination centers will be rebuilt-for example, the O2 Arena, the Kotva department store, and the Brno exhibition center are being discussed as possible locations. The problem, however, is the lack of staff. “We want to build the centers quickly, but there are not enough people. We have to increase the capacity, and we are working on it, “Babiš said at the press conference this morning.
More specialists will be involved
Doctor Radek Mounajjed, one of the initiative’s founders, recommended that outpatient specialists could also be involved in vaccination alongside general practitioners. He mentioned, for example, dentists, gynecologists, and ENT specialists. “I am asking colleagues in the outpatient sector to sign up on our website for the volunteer list. It is not expected that specialists will be able to vaccinate large numbers of patients. Still, even a few vaccinations a day can add up to a significant contribution, “he stated.
Turbo-vaccination app
Doctors say one of the obstacles to faster vaccination is the excessive paperwork involved in administering the vaccine. An app that was initially developed in collaboration with the Central Military Hospital (CMH) for the needs of the large capacity center at the O2arena could help deal with this problem.
“It is not a problem to get a large hall. But when we put the medics in there, we have to use the human resources to the maximum so that they don’t waste time on the computer and the procedure goes faster, “Mounajjed underlined.
The Turbo Vaccination app is currently being modified to speed up the administration of third doses, even for people who come without registering. “Again, with the support of the Institute of Health Services, the third dose application has been developed so that the insured person’s card is scanned with the camera on the mobile phone and it immediately reads the data, automatically sends it to the ISIN within seconds, and verifies that the person can be vaccinated,” the doctor explained.