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Vaccination of people with disabilities

Below you find informations related to the vaccination against COVID-19 intended mainly for people with disabilities and/or a chronical illness. For general information please see the Vaccination life situation page. Currently, we are awaiting more detailed information as there is none available yet, this should change in the following days.

When could I be vaccinated against COVID-19?

Due to an initial lack of vaccine doses, the vaccination process has been split into several phases.

During Phase IA (already in progress), people with disabilities are getting vaccinated if they are clients of a disability care home, elderly 80+ or stationary treated in a long-term care or after-care facility.

During Phase IB, starting on March 1, 2021, these persons among people with disabilities are getting vaccinated:

  • persons with intellectual insufficiency, conduct disorder or impaired mobility, provided it seriously affects the person's ability to realize and/or follow the epidemiologic measures and regulations set up (sanitizing hands, wearing a face mask, keeping a safe distance),

and, additionally, persons suffering under a selected chronic disease (i.e. persons with disabilities count here as well, if any of the following diseases has been diagnosed in them) will gradually get vaccinated:

  • diabetes mellitus (treated using insuline or antidiabetics)
  •  obesity (BMI exceeding 35 kg/m2)
  •  a severe, chronic lung disease (the patient has to either be treated in a specialised clinical facility or, in case of home care, using oxygen therapy)
  • a severe, chronic kidney disease (the patient has to either be treated in a specialised clinical facility or be a member of a dialyse program)
  • a severe, chronic liver disease (the patient has to be treated in a specialised clinical facility)
  • oncologic disease
  • state after an organ or bone marrow transplantation
  • a severe, chronic heart disease (the patient has to be treated in a specialised clinical facility) - e.g. coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy
  •  hypertension (treated using two or more medications)
  • a severe neurological or neuromuscular disease affecting the respiratory system
  • a rare genetic disease seriously affecting the immune system (the patient has to be treated in a specialised clinical facility)
  • a treatment or other disease seriously affecting the immune system (the patient has to be treated in a specialised clinical facility)

as well as their regular, long-term caregivers and elderly (70+), prioritized from the oldest persons.

During Phase 2, which should start in May 2021, all other persons should gradually get vaccinated. Thus, if you are a person with disabilities and, due to your age or diagnosis, not eligible to get vaccinated during Phase IA or Phase IB, you will only get vaccinated during Phase 2.

The sole presence of a disability [except for intellectual insufficiency, conduct disorder or impaired mobility, provided it seriously affects the person's ability to realize and/or follow the epidemiologic measures and regulations set up (sanitizing hands, wearing a face mask, keeping a safe distance)] does not constitute a reason to become a member of a prioritized category.

 

How and when I can register in the vaccination booking system?

At the websites www.crs.mzcr.cz or www.registrace.mzcr.cz (available in Czech only), fill the booking form. The booking form will be available from Friday, January 15, 2021 (only elderly 80+ regardless of their health state will be eligible). From March 1, 2021, onwards, elderly 70+ regardless of their health state are additionally eligible.

Starting on March 24, 2021, persons suffering under a chronic disease will be eligible as well, regardless of their age. You will gain access to your vaccine dose(s) using a special code obtained from your specialist (he/she will generate it for you, based on severity of your diagnosis). There will be three ways to use it in order to get vaccinated:

1. Use it within the vaccination booking system.

2. Get vaccinated in your GP's cabinet - this option is already available.

3. Get vaccinated directly in the clinic facility you are stationary treated in - please note that this option will be available only in high specialized ones. Most facilities will therefore generate the code for you to use it within the vaccination booking system and subsequently get vaccinated at a vaccination point (see option 1).

From April 12, 2021, onwards, lower priority patients (from priority group 2) will be allowed to get their access codes as well (document in Czech only).

The Ministry of Health has issued a leaflet (in Czech only) that may be an useful guide for you.

Details on particular options, an overview of eligible diagnoses as well as information on how to register are available at the Patients' and Patient Organisations' website, powered by the Ministry of Health (in Czech only).

Unused access codes will become invalid by June 15, 2021. Therefore please register yourself before this day. If you make it, your code will stay valid until you get your vaccination timeslot. This measure has been introduced in order to better manage the vaccination capacity and demand. Should you not register yourself till that day, it will be assumed that you are not interested in getting vaccinated.

If you are unable to fill the booking form yourself, you may ask a member of your family, if there are none, you may contact your GP or call the 1221 hotline (available for hearing impaired persons that are able to communicate in written Czech as well, however, with Czech SIM cards/telephone numbers only - page available only in Czech), the hotline personnel will then carry the booking out for you, the same goes for some social services, these had set up special help lines for this purpose.

In addition to the commonplace personal data, you will need to know your health insurance ID (personal number) and health insurance carrier.

The booking system is accessible for users of a TTS/screenreader (voice output) as well.

Starting from May 3, caregivers of persons dependent in Grade III or IV will additionally become eligible to register themselves. For more information please see the appropriate Life Situation page.

How should I prove my eligibility?

If you belong to any of the aforementioned population groups, please select the most appropriate option within the booking form. At the vaccination point, you will prove your health state using the health record of your last medical checkup. To prove your identity at the vaccination point please bring your ID with you.

What if I cannot be vaccinated due to a contraindication?

In order to ensure the protection of vulnerable persons which, however, due to a contraindication, cannot be vaccinated themselves, a possibility during the Phase IB has been set up for their caregivers to get vaccinated instead. Please note that if a vulnerable person gets vaccinated itself, its caregivers will only be allowed to get vaccinated in the next phase (Phase II). Should you yourself be unable to get vaccinated due to a contraindication and should be, therefore, necessary to get your caregivers vaccinated, please contact your GP.

What if I cannot - due to severity of my health state or impaired mobility - get to the vaccination point?

Please see the page Vaccination of immobile patients.

What to do if I am a person with limited legal capacity?

For information on this topic please see its own life situation page.