Some of the same processes are repeated every year. In mid-autumn, health authorities begin promoting the importance of getting vaccinated against the flu in preparation for the arrival of winter viruses, which since 2020 have also been joined by the coronavirus. The same thing happens every year: People relax and only a small number make the first call to get vaccinated. They are the ones who know best and fear the most about contracting a virus that, if complicated, can be fatal to the most vulnerable patients: the elderly, those with comorbidities, the immunocompromised…
precisely, Today, Friday 26 January, the influenza and coronavirus vaccination campaign launched by Sergas endsThe deadline has been extended three times this year due to the high incidence of both diseases.
The figures for vaccinators in the health districts of Pontevedra and Osalnes are not particularly good, and for yet another season they are once again behind the targets set annually by Sanidade, although it must be said that this bad news can be extended to the entire Cal Lycia.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the case of Pontevedra and Osalnes, a total of 61,226 people over the age of 60 have been vaccinated against influenza, in other words, a vaccination rate of 66%.
“Vaccination is there for a purpose, that’s what they have to be clear about. “If it starts on time, when the peak comes, society as a whole will be more protected. “
Sylvia Amodo. Associate Director of Primary Care Nursing
In the case of coronavirus, the numbers are even lower, with vaccination coverage for those over 60 years old at 63%.
As for vaccinated children under five years old, the level of protection is lower, with only more than 4,000 children vaccinated against influenza, which means that it does not reach 50% of the health field.
The number of people getting flu shots by region isn’t much better. When it comes to older people, the average vaccination rate remains above 68%, as health zones such as A Coruña and Santiago reached 71%, improving the overall percentage. Vigo lags behind again, with 61% of seniors free of the flu virus.
As for children, 37,121 people across Galicia were vaccinated through this campaign, or about 53%, which is almost 3 percentage points higher than the average in the health regions of Pontevedra and Osalnes.
worse than expected
Silvia Amoedo, deputy director of primary care nursing in the health sector, admitted that the data was “a little worse” than expected.
“The oldest people are always the ones who have been vaccinated the most. The problem is in the rest of the stripes. In October, when the campaign starts, they don’t want to be vaccinated, and then when the peak comes in December or January, the situation worsens, with pneumonia and even death , everyone wants to be vaccinated at the same time, but there is a gap,” he lamented.
He emphasized that vaccination is very important for all high-risk groups, as well as children, who are the main spreaders of influenza viruses.
“Vaccination is there for a purpose, that’s what they have to be clear about. If it starts on time, when the peak comes, society as a whole will be more protected,” he recalled.
It is worth noting that the protagonist among respiratory viruses this year is influenza A. Although the incidence rate is still high, the health field believes that the peak period of influenza A has passed.
Pontevedra is two years past the peak of the coronavirus, when the number of confirmed cases reached 9,260
As 2022 begins, the COVID data looks very different than the current data. If the current absolute protagonist is influenza A, then two years ago it was coronavirus. According to data published at that time, which the Ministry of Health continues to provide daily today, on January 24, 2022, there were 8,508 active cases of COVID-19 in the health zones of Pontevedra and Osalnes.
They have nothing to do with the 41 that exist today, and the fact is that, most importantly, citizens have largely stopped reporting them to their doctors unless their condition becomes complicated or they go to the doctor.
Announced in March 2020, the pandemic caused by the virus has gone through several waves, with the sixth wave beginning in late 2021, and the number of infections in 2022 being so high that it became the highest known year on record. Diseases, health in the area. Then there were spikes around those dates: a cap of 9,260 positive cases was reached on Jan. 21.
Likewise, numbers related to patients with active disease are irrelevant. Two years ago, at this time of year, nearly a hundred people were hospitalized, a dozen of them in the intensive care unit (ICU).
According to Sanidade, 12 people are currently hospitalized and have tested positive, and none are in intensive care. Since the pandemic was declared, the number of deaths due to the active virus across the health sector has reached 370. Sergas’s last statement expired in June 2023.