In the spring, when the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Prymula was one of the main faces in the fight against the disease, and he suddenly became one of the most powerful men in the state without exaggeration:
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However, he was also famous for a number of controversial statements, for example when at the end of March he spoke about the possibility that the Czech Republic would have closed borders for another two years. Prymula was also the first to speak publicly about the need for coronavirus-controlled salvage in order to gain immunity, for which he also garnered a wave of criticism.
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In May, Prymula began talking about leaving the ministry, mainly because he did not have the necessary security clearance (now, as a minister, he has a statutory clearance). Prymula said at the time that he had disagreements with Vojtěch and that the ministry had introduced mandatory security checks due to fears of his popularity, which Vojtěch denied.
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At that time, Babiš offered Prymul the position of government commissioner for science and research in healthcare, and he also became a member of the newly established government council for health risks, which replaced the crisis staff.
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Colonel in reserve
The graduated epidemiologist Prymula served as vice-rector and rector of the Military Medical Academy. He is a colonel in the reserve, he will not deny military appearance during public appearances. He is an internationally recognized expert in immunization and vaccines, has written several publications on vaccination and still chairs the Czech Society of Vaccinology.
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From 2009 to 2016 he headed the University Hospital in Hradec Králové (his predecessor was Leoš Heger, former Minister of Health for TOP 09 in the government of Petr Nečas), in June 2016 he was dismissed with immediate effect by Minister for the CSSD Svatopluk Němeček due to alleged conflict of interest.
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Prymula faced suspicions that he had received tens of millions at the head of the hospital from Biovomed, whose sole agent was his daughter Karolína. Prymula was to collect millions from the company for “lecturing” and “clinical research”.
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After his appeal, Prymula announced that he would defend himself legally and that the alleged conflict of interest was a surrogate problem: he allegedly had disputes with Minister Němeček regarding the functioning of the ministry and the hygienic service.
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When Němeček himself ended up at the head of the ministry in November 2016, Prymul’s steps led directly to the ministry: he began as an advisor to Němeček’s successor Miloslav Ludvík (ČSSD), who appointed him deputy health care officer in 2017. Vojtech left him in office.
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Proponents of Chinese medicine
Controversy was aroused by Prymul’s involvement in Chinese medicine. In 2015, he established a center of traditional Chinese medicine on the premises of the Hradec Králové hospital and wanted to open a separate clinic within the hospital, which was to be financed by the Czech-Chinese company CEFC and which would be closely linked to the hospital, against which the Czech Medical Chamber strongly protested.
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In the end, Prymula did not promote the Chinese Medicine Clinic, and the center closed in 2019 due to a change in legislation that does not allow alternative medicine specialists to work in state health care facilities today.
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In June, Prymula established a trade in the production of medical devices and lectures. He justified this by saying that he started his business after leaving the ministry, but he does not produce anything.
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Prymula also flirted with politics: he was attracted to the candidate for the Senate elections in 2014 by the Citizens’ Rights Party-Zemanovci. But Prymula eventually withdrew his candidacy.
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It was speculated in the spring that he could replace Vojtěch. But then he refused. “I have no political intentions and I never wanted to enter politics,” he said.
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Fifty-six-year-old Prymula is married, has a daughter and a son, and is an avid chess player: the International Chess Federation (FIDE) has awarded him the title of champion.
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