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ARCHIVED - Over-80s next on the list to receive the Covid vaccine in Spain
1.1 million doses have so far been administered to medical staff and those in homes for the elderly
As the coronavirus vaccination campaign gathers momentum gradually in Spain it has been confirmed that the third group of the population to be offered their first doses will be all of those aged over 80 who do not live in homes for the elderly, following the completion of immunization procedures for residents and staff in these homes and for frontline healthcare and medical workers.
According to the latest daily update published by the national government the number of vaccine doses so far administered in Spain has reached 1,103,301, and 49,056 patients have received their second dose. 82 per cent of the doses delivered to Spain have been used and by the time the next weekly batch of doses is received next week that proportion will have risen still higher.
Readers have frequently asked the question, “when will we be vaccinated” and that question is not easy to answer as so much depends on the volume of vaccines being delivered.
After what can only be described as a “very sluggish start” the vaccination campaign is starting to speed up in Spain, but is severely hampered by the lack of available vaccines.
Last week Pfizer reduced its delivery by Spain by 44% in order to undertake modifications to its Belgian manufacturing plant with a view to maximising longer-term production and with quantities of the Moderna vaccine severely limited at the moment, the country must wait for larger quantities of vaccine to come online.
The head of the health ministry has said that Spain must “vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate” but this is impossible until more vaccines are available.
Top priority in phase one are.
Residents and health and social health personnel who work in homes for the elderly
and care for dependents
2. Front-line personnel in the health and social health field
3. Other health and social health personnel
4. People considered highly dependent that are not currently institutionalized
5. The over 80’s
It is expected that vaccination in this first phase will conclude by the end of March.
Phases 2 and 3 include all those over 64, persons in conditions of risk which includes firemen, policemen etc, those working in enclosed spaces, those socially and economically vulnerable, essential sectors and educational sector, a period of vaccination scheduled to take until the end of June.
The final phase moves on to adults, juveniles, children etc from July onwards.
Realistically, given the current speed of the roll-out, pensioners over 65 can expect to receive their first jab from April onwards, and those who are older could possibly be vaccinated towards the middle/end of March, but before is unlikely as the Government is administering two doses of each vaccine within the recommended 2-3 weeks from the first vaccine, which will slow down the numbers vaccinated.
There has been considerable controversy this week over the vaccination of high-profile politicians, mayors and figures within the health sector who are not front-line workers but have been vaccinated regardless. One of the casualties has been the Murcian regional health minister who was forced to resign after fierce criticism from opposition politicians for vaccinating not only himself, but also many high-profile figures within the Murcian health Service.
The regional president currently faces the dilemma of who can replace him as most of the logical candidates were also vaccinated along with the outgoing minister. It also transpired this week that the Mayoress of Molina de Segura has been vaccinated as has the councillor with responsibility for health of the Murcia municipality, neither of whom should have been included in the first phase; although the calls for political transparency are loud and insistent, the transgressions are equally distributed amongst members of the political spectrum; sadly, the man best qualified to fight the virus on behalf of the region and who had done an exemplary job up until this one fatal error of judgement, has been forced to resign for doing the same thing as many other politicians and heads of health in other areas of the country. Is the man in charge of caring for the health of the region and overseeing the measures undertaken in this region to fight it important enough to vaccinate and protect, given his vast responsibility and endless contact with those working around the virus? There are as many voices saying he is as voices trying to find ways of criticising the efforts he has made.
The whole topic of vaccinations is, and will continue to be, controversial and fraught with difficulty, all the way through until the pandemic is finally under control.