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Czech military helicopters stationed in Poland took off early Saturday as a precaution after Russia launched large-scale missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. Outgoing Defence Minister Jana Černochová (Civic Democrats) told Czech Television that the helicopters did not need to intervene, as no threat to Polish airspace was ultimately confirmed.

According to the Ukrainian military, 30 missiles and 585 drones were destroyed during the overnight attack on Ukraine. However, Polish territory was not hit.

The Czech Republic deployed three upgraded Mil Mi-17 helicopters to Poland in September, following earlier incursions of Russian drones into Polish airspace.

From next year, patients in the Czech Republic will be able to access therapeutic psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms), following a criminal law amendment that legalises its medical use under strict conditions. Psilocybin treatment is to help people with depression and other conditions, for whom more conventional treatments, such as antidepressants, do not work. But funding and insurance coverage are still under negotiation, leaving the exact start date for wider access unclear, says Jiří Horáček, head of the National Institute of Mental Health (NUDZ).

The cost of a single psilocybin therapy can reach up to tens of thousands of crowns. Sessions last at least six hours and usually require two qualified therapists with psychiatric certifications and additional specialist training. Only a few dozen such specialists currently practise in the Czech Republic.

The parties of the emerging coalition government of ANO, SPD and the Motorists’ party say they expect the appointment of the new cabinet to take place within days of Andrej Babiš being appointed prime minister.

SPD chairman and newly-elected speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura, said following three-party-consultations on Friday that the new government could seek a confidence vote in the lower house on January 13.

According to Okamura, the government’s first session will include rejecting the EU Migration Pact and the ETS2 emissions trading scheme.

Around 50,000 more hepatitis A vaccines have arrived in the Czech Republic, meaning that more people who want to get vaccinated amid the ongoing hepatitis A epidemic, will be able to do so. Doctors have recommended vaccinations, particularly for high-risk groups, but a shortage of vaccines has complicated the process.  The Health Ministry previously announced that over 125,000 more doses are expected by January. Since the start of the year, 2,880 people have been diagnosed with hepatitis A, which is twenty times more than last year and the highest figure since 1984. Thirty-one people have succumbed to the disease. The hardest hit is Prague, which accounts for more than 40 percent of all reported cases.