A survey carried out by SW Research has shown that approximately 60 per cent of Poles want non-EU nationals to have been vaccinated against certain diseases before they are allowed to enter the country.
Only 15 per cent of those surveyed did not consider prior immunisation important.
“The idea is largely backed by people aged between 35 and 49,” said Piotr Zimolzak from SW Research. “Moreover, high school graduates and those with low incomes tend to predominantly support this view as well. About 69 per cent of graduates of elementary and junior high school and 63 per cent of people with a net income of 1,001-2,000 zloty are in favour of foreigners producing documentation certifying vaccination upon arrival.
The idea of compulsory vaccinations for non-EU nationals has also found support at governmental level. The new vaccination policy would apply to both foreign visitors and refugees even in the case of short-term stays, when the stay is for less than three months.
“Newcomers may expose people in Poland – even those vaccinated – to germs such as tuberculosis and whooping cough,” Poland’s health ministry was reported as stating, according to the daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita. The ministry further highlighted the fact that vaccination in the early years of somebody’s life does not necessarily offer immunity for a lifetime.
The issue of prior immunisation has recently become of primary concern amidst a rash of new cases of measles in Warsaw and surrounding areas.
