The possibility of the employer to investigate whether its employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 was subject of heated debate in Slovakia. The prevailing view was the employer could not request such information from them as allegedly there was no legal basis for it in the Labour Code or other regulations. Surprisingly, such view was also supported by the Slovak National Inspectorate of Labour that claimed it should be up to the employees whether they inform the employer about their vaccination. There were also discussions whether obtaining such information by the employer complies with the GDPR.

Immunisation Certificates played a big role in the previous wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Hungary. They were issued as a supplementary certificate to confirm that the cardholder had a positive COVID test or got at least the first shot of any of the available vaccines. At many stages of the pandemic, cardholders enjoyed specific privileges compared to the others (i.e. card was asked at many places that had an indoor room, such as theatres, cinemas, restaurants etc.). Even though the European COVID passport became available from 1 July 2021 among the EU, it is only issued for persons, who got an EU-approved vaccine. Since Hungary choose to vaccinate with non-EU-approved vaccines, the dichotomy of the certificates still remains.

On 21 September 2021, the Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation. The public consultation ends on 21 December 2021. Any interested party may submit comments and observations. The consultation concerns certain key topics such as access and affordability, solutions to address unmet medical needs, incentives for innovation, medicine shortages, environmental challenges and sustainability. The amendments of the general pharmaceuticals legislation may be however much wider in scope, in line with the strategic areas identified in the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe, as part of which the public consultation is organized. Following the consultation process, the Commission will adopt a final legislative proposal, which is expected to be published by the fourth quarter of 2022.

The DLA Piper report “The COVID-19 pandemic and the pharmaceutical and medical sector in Poland” is based on the feedback from a survey conducted among DLA Piper’s clients and business contacts from the pharmaceutical and medical sector, including producers of medicines, food supplements and medical devices, as well as healthcare service providers. It is the first report that brings together the views of key players in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, describing how they see the current state of affairs on the Polish market and possible future trends, along with their recommendations as to what actions they would like to see taken in the sector. The key findings are summarised in our four briefings, the last part of which discusses other consequences of the pandemic not yet mentioned as well as sector barriers and suggested state actions.

The DLA Piper report “The COVID-19 pandemic and the pharmaceutical and medical sector in Poland” is based on the feedback from a survey conducted among DLA Piper’s clients and business contacts from the pharmaceutical and medical sector, including producers of medicines, food supplements and medical devices, as well as healthcare service providers. It is the first report that brings together the views of key players in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, describing how they see the current state of affairs on the Polish market and possible future trends, along with their recommendations as to what actions they would like to see taken in the sector. The key findings are summarised in our four briefings, the third of which focuses on patients’ rights, the product market and an evaluation of the state’s actions during the pandemic.

The DLA Piper report “The COVID-19 pandemic and the pharmaceutical and medical sector in Poland” is based on the feedback from a survey conducted among DLA Piper’s clients and business contacts from the pharmaceutical and medical sector, including producers of medicines, food supplements and medical devices, as well as healthcare service providers. It is the first report that brings together the views of key players in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, describing how they see the current state of affairs on the Polish market and possible future trends, along with their recommendations as to what actions they would like to see taken in the sector. The key findings are summarised in our four briefings, the second of which concentrates on the impact of the pandemic on reimbursement and on the organisation of the healthcare system.