www.theguardian.com | Rebecca Ratcliffe
Polish Covid advisers quit over concerns government not following science
More than two-thirds of Poland’s Covid-19 medical advisory body resigned on Friday, saying the government was not heeding their advice in its response to the pandemic.
AP reports:
In a statement, 13 of the board’s 17 members said they were experiencing a ‘lack of political possibilities to introduce the optimal and globally tested methods of fighting the pandemic’.
They also complained of a ‘growing tolerance’ in the government for state officials who play down the threat of the pandemic or the need for vaccination.
The mass resignation comes days after a regional education official was criticised for describing Covid vaccines as an “experiment”.
Poland’s government has ignored calls for her dismissal.
In a letter to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, outgoing board members said “very limited action” was taken during the autumn surge and against the ongoing threat from the fast-spreading omicron variant, “despite an expected huge number of deaths”.
Morawiecki’s office said the government had to take into account various differing opinions from businesspeople and educators. It said the makeup of the advisory body will be changed, but gave no details.
To counter a rise in infections, Poland’s government brought in restrictions last month on access to indoor public areas, but avoided a lockdown or outdoor mask mandate.
This week Poland’s coronavirus death toll topped 100,000. Its death rate per 100 million inhabitants is currently among the highest in the world, according to the Our World in Data project at the University of Oxford, at more than 57 compared to about 34 in the United States and 38 in Russia.
Only 56% of its 38 million population is vaccinated – lower than the average in the European Union.
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