Pandemic diary – weeks 60 & 61

Monday, 3 May 2021
Long weekend comes to an end, along with a massive propaganda mass vaccination campaign. Mobile vaccination centres draw in scores of people queuing up to get one shot of J&J vaccine without waiting for a slot. Picture of people standing in the rain are deplorable. In the meantime nobody raised a little finger to ensure regular vaccination centres work at full blast during the long weekend. For comparison:
- 338 thousand vaccines were administered on 30 April 2021,
- 114 thousand vaccines were administered on 1 May 2021,
- data for 2 May 2021 are not yet available today, as servers have packed up.

Tuesday, 4 May 2021
The first major step in unfreezing. DIY and furniture are reopened, same as shopping malls, a long-awaited moment for me. School fully open to the youngest pupils.

Wednesday, 5 May 2021
The seven-day average of new infection declines below the through reached between the “second” and “third” wave (i.e. 5,214 on 9 February 2021).

Thursday, 6 May 2021
There is much hype about the Indian variant and too much panic. We still have no evidence it is more contagious, more lethal or escapes vaccines. The mutation was not behind the outbreak of the pandemic in India, but all-out abandoning any sanitary regime. Masks off, huge gatherings on – a quick recipe for disaster.

Friday, 7 May 2021
1Q2021: shortage of vaccines was a problem.
2Q2021: logistics in distribution and organising vaccination centres might be a problem.
3Q2021 (or even late June 2021): vaccine hesitancy wall might be a problem. I seriously one day we will have plenty of vaccines and efficient system of vaccinations and 30% of adults reluctant to get the jab.

Saturday, 8 May 2021
I get my first shot in Radzymin, mere 40 kilometres from home. Side effects? A pain in my arm. With hindsight – it disappeared on the next day late in the afternoon.

Sunday, 9 May 2021
COVID-19 death toll in Poland hits 70,000. Unless 70% or even 80% of the society are immunised, epidemic will still smoulder and the heinous figure hits 100,000 before the end of 2021.

Monday, 10 May 2021
The government profile SzczepimySię on Twitter informs only 42% of Poles eligible for vaccination have signed up for their jabs. The remaining 58% have not lifted their little fingers to get immune. More than horrifying.

Tuesday, 11 May 2021
A disrespect for restrictions is more and more eye-popping. Much harder to spot a person wearing a mask on a street just ahead of the obligation being lifted, much easier to find an open eatery or a gym (not a novelty, businesses have been operating underground since February 2021).

Wednesday, 12 May 2021
10% of Poland’s entire population (including children) have been fully vaccinated, 27.7% have received at least one dose. This marks a meaningful milestone in the vaccination programme, yet we are still way off herd immunity (if ever achievable).

Thursday, 13 May 2021
Poland overtakes the United Kingdom in terms of deaths per 1 million citizens. In terms of loosening restrictions in three weeks we will be more or less where they are, but in terms of vaccination programme progress, we are lagging far behind. Worth noting the 7-day average of new infections in the UK bottomed out on 5 May 2021 and keeps rising, due to expansion of the Indian variant, which in fact has two sub-variants:
- B.1617.1 – less contagious, but more likely to escape immune response,
- B.1617.2 – more contagious less likely to escape immune response, this one begins to dominate in some regions in the UK.

Friday, 14 May 2021
I mention deaths too often, but worth noting in Hungary 0.3% of the entire population died from COVID-19, the highest percentage in the world. I hope we will not see Budapest in Warsaw.

Saturday, 15 May 2021
The obligation to wear a face mask outdoors is lifted today. What a relief. Hope it never returns, but fear it is reinstated before the end of summer, as with carefree opening of social life with insufficient populational immunity, new infections might rise again.