Czech govt to debate swine flu, mandate for EU summit on Thursday

Almost one million people in the ten-million Czech Republic are to be vaccinated against swine flu (H1N1 virus). They will mostly get only one dose and not two as originally planned, Health Minister Dana Juraskova said today.

The first 95,000 doses of pandemic vaccine have been delivered to the Czech Republic. They will be soon distributed to general practitioners and vaccination centres.

Chronically ill patients and selected health care personal will be inoculated against swine flu in the first wave. Then the vaccine will be administered to people necessary for the state functioning, such as police, firemen and emergency staff members, probably in December, Juraskova said.

At the extraordinary EU summit on October 19, leaders of the EU 27 are to agree on the names of "European president" and "foreign minister." These posts are embedded in the EU reform Lisbon treaty that all the member states have ratified, the Czech Republic being the last.

The Czech government has not yet announced its favourite for the supreme European post of "president" and it is not likely to do so at its Thursday meeting either.

Prime Minister Jan Fischer will probably leave for the summit with the conclusion that the Czech Republic has no clear favourite for the post and will decide on the spot.

"The mandate (for the EU summit) should be more general to allow the prime minister to actively participate in the seeking of consensus at the EU Council meeting," Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fuele, candidate for Czech EU commissioner, told CTK.

Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said the Czech Republic would like the future EU head of diplomacy to get involved in favour of the West Balkans and the areas east of the EU.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz