Vaccinations against COVID-19 for foreigners in Poland

If you are a foreigner who stays in Poland legally, you can be vaccinated against COVID-19.

If you have a PESEL number:

You should receive an e-referral automatically by age group. All people who have a PESEL number receive them - you can check this on your on-line Patient Account (PL: Internetowe Konto Pacjenta). If you do not receive an e-referral, please contact with your primary care physician. 

Immunization registration schedule:

If your round has already passed or you are outside this schedule - contact your primary care physician.

If you don't have a PESEL number:
you have the right of residence in Poland because you work, study or your family is here:

• Wait until your age group is vaccinated.
• Then ask your primary care physician (lekarz podstawowej opieki zdrowotnej) to issue you an e-referral (e-skierowanie) for vaccination.
• Then sign up for vaccination for a specific date.
• Your primary care physician should issue an e-referral for the vaccination through the gabinet.gov.pl application. In the „dane pacjenta" field he/she should choose „inny identyfikator" (instead of "PESEL") and enter the number of your identity document, e.g. passport number.
• Do not forget to bring the identity document, the number of which you have given to the doctor, to the vaccination. Remember to use exactly the same document that was used to issue your e-referral at each stage of the vaccination process.

With an e-referral issued in the system, you can register for vaccination:

• via the helpline 989 (available 24/7) or 22 626 29 89 (in english)
• by sending a text message (SMS) +48 880 333 333: "SzczepimySie",
• directly at a vaccination center convenient for you and your place of residence/stay. See the map of vaccination centers: https://www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie/mapa-punktow-szczepien#/.

• It is also possible to register electronically via e-registration available at pacjent.gov.pl - to use it you must have an active ePUAP (and thus a PESEL number).

The system will suggest five available appointments at vaccination centers near your address. If the date does not suit you or you want to be vaccinated in a different point/city, in the available search engine you will be able to indicate the date and location of your choice. Once you have made your booking, you will receive an SMS notification.

The vaccination may be administered at the appropriate time as per the schedule of vaccinations for particular age groups. If you are chronically ill (e.g. have cancer, kidney failure, had a transplantation, etc.), you may be vaccinated out of turn. Vaccinations for foreigners legally residing in Poland are performed free of charge.

** How to create a trusted profile

Sources: 

https://www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie/e-skierowanie-na-szczepienie-dla-cudzoziemcow
https://www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie/rejestracja
https://www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie/od-kiedy-moge-sie-zaszczepic

COVID-19 vaccination FAQs
Go to www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie and find out more!

Is the vaccination mandatory? If so, are there any sanctions for refusal take the vaccine?

The vaccination will be voluntary, but we recommend that all Poles get vaccinated. The vaccine is a solution that can protect us from new waves of the pandemic. The more people get vaccinated, the more effective the protection against the coronavirus will be.

We want the vaccination to be available in every municipality so that everyone can easily sign up for it and reach the vaccination location. The strategic objective enshrined in the National Vaccination Program is to achieve a level of vaccination of the population that will make it possible to control the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of 2021, while maintaining the highest safety standards.

Is the vaccine safe? What kind of tests and procedures is it subject to?

Regardless of the type of vaccine, each of them is carefully tested and may only be administered after authorization by specialized institutions.

The registration procedures have been reduced to a minimum, but the tests have been performed according to the highest safety standards, as is the case with other vaccines.

Vaccines, like other medicinal products, require a marketing authorization before they are placed on the market. The requirements for their registration are very strict.

In Poland, vaccines are authorized by the President of the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products (URPL). The decision may also be made by the Council of the European Union or the European Commission following a centralized procedure conducted by the European Medicines Agency.

In any case, the authorization is granted after an assessment of the risk-benefit ratio. This is done on the basis of documentation that contains data collected during product development and clinical trials. The risk assessment addresses the quality, safety, and efficacy of the medicinal product.

In the case of COVID-19, the administrative deadlines are shortened to ensure the rapid availability of an effective and safe vaccine. These procedural facilitations do not reduce the existing requirements concerning the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

Early purchase agreements signed by the European Commission make the final purchase conditional on obtaining access to the European Union market. A positive decision on full or conditional access is made only for vaccines that have proven to be effective and safe in a central procedure run by the European Medicines Agency.

Pharmaceutical companies also carry out their own tests. In the case of Moderna, one of the manufacturers of a COVID-19 vaccine, the data was developed on the basis of an analysis of 196 confirmed COVID-19 infections among 3,000 participants. The company found that in the placebo group there were 185 cases of COVID-19, compared to 11 cases in the group that received the vaccine.

Go to www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie and find out more!

I have been ill with COVID-19. Should I get vaccinated?

According to the CDC (Center for disease Control and Prevention) and PHE (Public Health England), having recovered from the disease is not a contraindication for vaccination.

Currently, the Medical Council recommends that those who have already gone through Covid-19 take one dose of vaccine 6 months after the date of obtaining the result of the confirmatory test.

Where can I get vaccinated?

Vaccination is carried out:

• stationary in primary healthcare and outpatient healthcare facilities;
• in other stationary healthcare facilities;
• by mobile vaccination units;
• in vaccination centres set up in backup hospitals.

Map of all the vaccination centres is available at gov.pl/szczepimysie.
Visit www.gov.pl/web/szczepimysie and find out more!

Foreigners who can get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Poland: 

• a person studying in Poland, 
• a foreign PhD student, 
• a foreigner with a work permit, 
• a diplomat, 
• a spouse or child of one of the abovementioned persons with the right to reside in Poland.