Czech Republic to receive one million vaccine doses in March, two million in April

The Czech Republic should receive over one million COVID-19 vaccine doses in March, Health Minister Jan Blatný said at a press conference on Friday.

Among the March vaccines, about 700,000 doses will be from Pfizer/BioNTech. Roughly two million vaccine doses should come in April, Blatný added.

The aim is to administer at least 35,000 vaccine doses per day in March, and 100,000 per day in April. The vaccination progress has been accelerating in the Czech Republic, and a record high of 31,376 people were vaccinated on Thursday.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš said after a government meeting that 1,041,950 vaccine doses had already arrived in the Czech Republic. He called for an accelerated vaccination plan, also during the weekends.

A supply of 15,000 vaccine doses from France is to arrive in the Czech Republic next week. They will be included in the system and not specifically administered, Babiš said. Another 100,000 vaccine doses from EU member states will be distributed throughout the country.

As of Thursday, 78 percent of people over 80 who registered for the vaccination have received their first dose, while 21 percent of them have received both doses.

When it comes to the healthcare sector, 78 percent of doctors and 59 percent of nurses have been inoculated.

In addition to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the Czech Republic has been using vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna.

Since December 27, 771,223 vaccine doses have been administered and 255,480 people have received both necessary doses.

"Though the vaccination rate is rising every day, I hope it is possible to speed it up even more, also during the weekends when the capacity is still available," Babiš said.

Considerably fewer people are being vaccinated during weekends than on workdays. Last Sunday, for instance, only 2,608 doses were administered.

Babiš called on all vaccination centers to do their utmost for rapid vaccination and asked them not to keep vaccine reserves for the second dose.

People over 80 began registering for COVID-19 vaccination in mid-January. From February, healthcare workers have been able to register for the vaccination.

Last weekend, the reservation system opened to teachers, and senior citizens over 70 followed on Monday. The latter group can also register with their GPs.