Over three million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 have been administered in the Czech Republic since vaccination began four months ago, more than three-quarters of them from Pfizer / BioNTech. So far, 980,327 people have been fully vaccinated in the Czech Republic, while the current number of patients in hospital is declining. Photo Credit: Courtesy of South Moravian Region.
Czech Rep., Apr 29 (BD) – The number of patients in Czech hospitals with Covid-19 dropped under 3,000 on Wednesday, for the first time since October 2020. Of the 2,483 patients, 622 are in a serious condition, according to the Ministry of Health, almost 16% less than the same day last week.
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TALLINN | RIGA | VILNIUS
Baltic states prepare to leave Russian electricity network, join European one. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, all currently part of the Russian electricity network since gaining independence in the early 90s, are set to join the Continental Europe electricity network in early 2026, meaning they will soon be leaving the Russian one. Read more.
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EU PRESIDENCY
Kyriakides: Lifting patents is not way forward to produce more vaccines. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on Tuesday (13 April) acknowledged the need to accelerate production of COVID-19 vaccines but stressed that lifting patents is not a way forward and that other options are under consideration. Read the full story.
The Czech government is facing turbulent times after Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček was fired on Monday and Health Minister Jan Blatný was replaced by Petr Arenberger just last week.
Although Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Jan Hamáček, who proposed Petříček’s removal, has not yet provided an explanation for the move, the two ex-ministers were strictly against the use of Russian vaccine Sputnik V without approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), a stance for which they were criticised by President Miloš Zeman.
While the health minister was quickly replaced, the foreign minister position has not yet been filled. Although current Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, who previously served as foreign minister from 2014 to 2017, was proposed to again take on the reins of the foreign ministry, he said on Tuesday that he is not willing, for the time being, to change position because the foreign ministry had been “gutted”.
The Czech Republic s pro-European foreign minister has been dismissed after losing a bid to lead his own party.
President Milos Zeman terminated the duties of Tomáš Petříček in accordance with the Constitution, his office said in a statement.
Petříček had clashed with his rival, Interior Minister Jan Hamacek, over control of the Czech Social Democratic Party.
The former minister had suggested breaking ties with the populist liberal ANO party, led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Hamacek had been calling for the foreign minister to resign, stating that the party should speak with one voice ahead of the parliamentary elections in October.
Health Minister Jan Blatný was dismissed from his post on Wednesday, in what is the third change-of-guard in the post since the start of the pandemic a year ago. In recent weeks the health minister had come under fire from the prime minister and president for refusing to allow the use of the unregistered Sputnik vaccine and imposing strict conditions for the use of experimental drugs to treat COVID-19 patients.
Health Minister Jan Blatný had remained tight lipped for weeks in the face of a barrage of criticism from the prime minister and repeated calls for him to be dismissed from the President Milos Zeman. Announcing his dismissal to the media on Wednesday the respected specialist in paediatric haematology said his conscience was clear.