More than one-third of Czech residents now fully vaccinated against Covid-19

More than one third of the Czech population has now completed their coronavirus vaccination, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch told journalists on Friday. Another 1.6 million people will receive their second vaccine dose in July, and among people aged over 60, more than 60 percent have completed their vaccination.

The Czech Republic has 10.7 million inhabitants, 8.45 million Covid-19 vaccines doses have been administered in the country, and 3.44 million people have completed their vaccination.

Vaccine producers now say that complete protection against Covid-19 is developed only about two weeks after the application of the second dose. In the case of the one-dose vaccine from the Johnson & Johnson, it is also two weeks after that dose.

In early June, the Czech government eased some restrictions for those who received their first dose at least 22 days ago, considering them free of infection. Some experts warned then that this was not sufficient. Now, the government has reversed their decision, and only one dose will not be enough as of July 9.

Vojtěch noted on Wednesday that the efficiency of the first dose against the Delta variant, which is about 60 percent more contagious that the current virus, is only about 33 percent. More than 120 cases of Delta variant have been confirmed in the Czech Republic so far, including six this week. Experts warn that the Delta variant will soon prevail because of it spreads more easily.

Studies show that complete two-dose vaccination, especially with the Pfizer vaccine that is the most frequently used in the Czech Republic, is sufficient protection against the Delta variant, mainly against a serious course of the illness.

Among people aged over 70, nearly three-fourths have completed their vaccination. More than 60 percent of people in their sixties, about half of people in their fifties, about 30 percent of people in their forties and one out of ten of people in their thirties, and 7 percent of young people aged from 16 to 29 have been fully vaccinated in the Czech Republic so far.

Health Information and Statistics director Ladislav Dušek said coronavirus has been spreading mostly among the young generation in Prague at the moment. He said this is due to their lifestyle and the low percentage who have been already vaccinated. The coronavirus incidence rate is more than 25 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days in Prague, while the average in the country is 8.1 cases.

From July 9, people who have not completed their vaccination at least two weeks ago will have to undergo a coronavirus test to prove that they are free of infection. This is now required when people want to stay in a hotel, visit a hairdresser, a fitness center, swimming pool, or a mass event like a sports game, concert, or theater performance.