Coronavirus update, May 6, 2021: Vaccination registration to open for ages 45 and over next week

Czechs over 45 to register for vaccination next Wednesday

Czechs over 45 will likely be entitled to register for Covid vaccination as of next week, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said. "I presume this will be in a week, or on May 12," Babiš told news server Deník N. "Later in May, vaccines will also be accessible for the 40-44 age group. There is a goal of opening the category 16 -39 by June 1 at the latest," Babiš added. Yesterday, registration for those between 50 and 54 started.

Culture representatives push for May 17 reopening

Culture representatives met yesterday with Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek and proposed starting indoor plays and concerts indoors as of May 17. The representatives suggest the indoor capacity of 50 percent with up to 500 attendees with a negative antigen test. Outdoor cultural premises could be filled up to 60 percent of their capacity, hosting 1,000 people at maximum, Tanec Praha dance festival director and International Theatre Institute (ITI) Czech section president Yvona Kreuzmannová said. Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlíček said that his ministry and the Culture Ministry and have been pushing the Health Ministry to clearly define the relaxation plan for culture as entrepreneurs in this domain are concerned. The government will discuss it today and it should make the decision on Monday.

GPs to get most shipments of Moderna vaccine

General practitioners will obtain almost all deliveries of the vaccine from Moderna. "Newly there is the strategy that general practitioners will be receiving not only the vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, but also from Moderna. In the centers, there will only be the administration of the second dose from Moderna and then everything will only go to general practitioners," Babiš told Deník N. General practitioners have been complaining about a shortage of the vaccines. The vaccination centers are mainly to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, he added. In the Czech Republic, four types of vaccine, from Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, are used.  

Health Ministry warns against black market codes

Registration codes for coronavirus vaccination are being sold on social networks and internet bazaars, according to daily Mladá fronta Dnes, which cited several advertisements. The Health Ministry warns that the purchased registration code is useless.

"If they have a special code from their outpatient specialist, the doctor must present a medical report to the vaccination center that they is a chronic patient. In the case of other registrations, it is tied to the name," Heath Ministry spokeswoman Jana Schillerová said. Hospital representatives also confirmed that identity had to be confirmed before a vaccination could be given.

Association calls for waiving of fees for gardens

The Czech Bartenders Association called on cities in the Czech Republic to waive garden fees for restaurants until the end of the year. According to the association, the operators of restaurants, pubs, cafés, and bars are among the entrepreneurs most affected by the coronavirus pandemic."I believe that this will not be a dizzying burden for city budgets. On the other hand, such a measure will help all entrepreneurs, for whom amounts in the order of tens of thousands of crowns in the current bleak situation mean big money," association president Aleš Svojanovský said.

Czech Republic approaching new infection target

Sometime between between May 9 and 14 the Czech Republic will most likely reach the target of 100 new cases of coronavirus infection per 100,000 population over seven days, according to the models of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics (ÚZIS), Currently, the figure is at 118 per 100,000. The figure is used to determine what steps will be taken in dismantling coronavirus restrictions. At less that 100 new cases per 100,000 people, the third relaxation package would start, allowing for example up to 30 people to attend weddings or funerals.

Second highest number of vaccinations given out Wednesday

Some 76,099 people were vaccinated against Covid-19 on Wednesday, which is the second-highest daily number and almost a tenth more than a week ago. The spread of the disease slowed down further, with 1,857 confirmed new cases, a quarter less than a week ago, according to Health Ministry data. The reproduction number R decreased slightly from 0.87 to 0.85. The PES Index stayed at 46 for the sixth day in a row.

Latest Covid-19 data from the Czech Ministry of Health (May 6, 2021)

Source: onemocneni-aktualne.mzcr.cz/covid-19