As the Polish vaccination program is increasingly speeding up and more and more Poles are getting jabs, many are considering when exactly Polish society will be able to return to normal life.
“I believe that we will start returning to normal functioning during the summer holidays. The new school year in September should start normally, which not only children and parents are counting on, but also the authorities,” Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told Polish weekly Do Sieci.
He added that if the fourth wave does hit Poland, it will not be on the scale of the second and third waves owing to herd immunity and the vaccination program.
Niedzielski evaluates that lockdowns as a method of fighting the pandemic, at least in Poland, are rapidly becoming less efficient. He noted that while a year ago lockdowns drastically reduced social mobility, it is much worse today, which is proven by data analysis of cellular networks.
“Introducing certain regulations, restrictions or instructions is one thing, but obeying them is something else. Lockdowns are the simplest form of responding to the threat. As time passes, we must search for more advanced and subtle tools. We must also systematically develop the efficiency of our health care. This concerns not only the number of hospital beds, but also the logistics of oxygen supply or transporting patients,” he said.
Niedzielski also underlined that Poland must have an industry which is able o produce medicine and vaccines, first based on foreign licenses and then based on Polish research.
Lockdown restrictions were introduced in Poland between March 20 and April 9. Three days ago, the government extended them until April 18. Hotels, shopping malls, cinemas, theaters, museums, and sports venues are closed. All students are currently taking online classes. Pre-schools, barbers and beauty salons are also closed.
Anyone arriving in Poland must undergo a 10-day quarantine, with the exclusion of Schengen zone arrivals who present a negative coronavirus test no older than 48 hours.
