Upset With The Slow Supply Of Vaccinations, Czech Athletes Set Up Their Own Medical Center

Vaccine illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Irritated by the slow vaccination in the Czech Republic, members of sports organizations raise money, bring in doctors and nurses and open their own vaccination centers.

The vaccination center, which is a sports hall in the small southwestern city of Prague, Dobrichovice, provides about 700 COVID-19 vaccines a day under the national health insurance system.

"It arises from complaints about the situation because the Czech state is not able to respond adequately to the entire pandemic, including vaccinations," said Jiri Geissler, the originator of the project.

Geissler is the deputy head of the local branch of Sokol, a sports organization founded in 1862 that is best known for holding mass gymnastic shows in Prague.

This program provides venue and technical assistance.

With one of the highest global rankings for COVID-19 deaths and infections per capita, the Czech Republic has reported more than 1.5 million cases and more than 26,000 deaths related to COVD-19.

The European Union has a population of 10.7 million people who have vaccinated more than 1.5 million people, less than the target set due to the slow supply mediated by the European Union.

The vaccination center at Dobrichovice is not linked to any health facility, but does depend on the distribution of vaccines by the state.

The medical center is officially run by local dentist Martin Rusnak.

"I'm on the afternoon shift at work so I can be here in the morning," said Rusnak.

The vaccination center relies on volunteers, including retirees, mothers on maternity leave, students, job seekers or those unable to work because their workplaces are closed.

"We put up an ad in the local paper and got about 300-350 answers from 30-40 doctors, about 50 nurses and the rest were administrative staff," said Geissler.

Rusnak hopes that the vaccination center can make money because of payments from health insurance companies.

"We want to return the money of the people who work here because they gave us time," said Rusnak.

"If there's money left, we're determined to spend it on charity in this city or area."

Coming from a nearby town, a retiree, Ruzena Filipova, is resting under the scoreboard after being vaccinated, holding a lollipop given to her for being a good patient.

"I thought I was going to spend half a day here and it went really fast, it was well organized," said Filipova.

Geissler said the vaccination center was serving patients from more remote places.

"There are people from Brno, tomorrow there will be a woman from (the eastern city) of Havirov. We are here for the whole country," said Geissler.