The medical faculties of Charles University (1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Faculties of Medicine, Faculties of Medicine in Pilsen and Hradec Králové) unequivocally support the opinion that vaccination is society’s only path towards achieving a return to normality – that is, a life without face masks, normal civic, cultural and sporting life, and travel without restrictions. In addition to this, vaccination and stopping the spread of the virus in the population is the path towards returning the normal routine to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

If the current pandemic, and the accompanying overloading of healthcare workers, were to last for an extended period of time, it is to be expected that this would have disastrous consequences for both healthcare workers themselves and the health of the populace, as there would be insufficient capacity to treat other illnesses. For all of these reasons we unequivocally support vaccination against Covid-19 with the vaccines which are to be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the indications permitted by the regulatory body.

Information published about the vaccination substances so far confirms its reliability in inducing an immune response, and thus reducing the risk of experiencing serious forms of the disease. It also confirms the safety of the vaccines when monitored over the short term. We are convinced that even any long-term risks will be of lesser significance in comparison with the current complications or chronic risks of Covid-19. A clear argument in favour of this are the more than nine thousand deaths of Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic. In the first phase, the vaccination must be administered to at-risk groups, i.e. the elderly and chronically ill, then the most at-risk healthcare workers in order to maintain the quality of care for all patients.

If we wish to prevent the needless death of further thousands of our fellow citizens, stabilise the situation in healthcare and social care facilities, and return life in our country to normal, we have only three means for achieving this: vaccination of the at-risk population, smart quarantine and thorough compliance with anti-epidemic measures until such a time as vaccination achieves the desired effect.

Prague, 15^th December 2020

Prof. MUDr. Tomáš Zima, DrSc., Rector of Charles University, Professor of the CU 1^st Faculty of Medicine
Prof. MUDr. Jindřich Fínek, PhD., Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen
Prof. MUDr. Jiří Manďák, PhD., Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové
Prof. MUDr. Vladimír Komárek, CSc., Dean of the CU 2^nd Faculty of Medicine
Doc. MUDr. Martin Vokurka, CSc., Dean of the CU 1^st Faculty of Medicine
Prof. MUDr. Petr Widimský, DrSc., Dean of the CU 3^rd Faculty of Medicine