The flu vaccine will be rolled out nationwide for the first time in Spain this autumn to healthy children aged six months to five years. Children with underlying conditions have only been vaccinated so far. All communities and municipalities in Ceuta and Melilla have received doses of the vaccine, which will benefit 1.6 million children. Javier Álvarez, member of the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Pediatric Association (CAV-AEV), said that in 2022, influenza vaccination in this population will only take place in three autonomous regions: Andalusia, Galicia and Murcia, with 50% coverage. Who said they hoped to increase that to an average of 55 percent or 60 percent this fall.
The vaccine is given to healthy children (those 2 to 5 years old will receive an intranasal injection, and those 6 to 23 months old will receive an intramuscular injection) “to protect those vaccinated, but also because they are infected with the virus. main disseminator”. “Influenza spreads in schools and nurseries and spreads the virus to the people who live with them,” Alvarez said. Experts say people are “paying a huge price” to realize that flu is not “a banal disease.” And “not without complications”, especially in the smallest populations: it will affect the pediatric population in 20% to 40% of people, with 5% of cases ultimately hospitalized (of these admissions, two-thirds correspond to no children with underlying pathology).
Amós García Rojas, member of the World Health Organization’s European standing group and honorary member of the Spanish Vaccination Association (AEV), believes that it is appropriate to vaccinate children against influenza, There has been a “significant reduction” in adult flu cases after the country’s healthy children were vaccinated.
New crown vaccine for high-risk groups
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign will begin in the fall alongside the flu campaign, focusing on those most vulnerable to the disease. All people over the age of 60 are included, although the document specifically emphasizes the relevance of performing piercings on people over the age of 80 because of their increased risk of severe disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. In addition, it is recommended for all shelter personnel (residential, disabled centres, prisons…) as well as health and social hygiene workers and essential public services (police, firefighters…).
For other groups, the public health committee said new doses of the COVID-19 vaccine would be available for pregnant women and people with certain conditions that increase their risk. These include: diabetes, morbid obesity, chronic cardiovascular and neurological diseases, etc. For other groups of people, vaccination is not recommended, but those who want to be vaccinated can do so voluntarily.
It is unclear which drugs will be used. Spain has purchased more than 100 million doses of unused vaccines, which are already outdated. International health authorities recommend waiting for pharmaceutical companies to be ready to adapt the XBB series, the omicron variants that are mainly in circulation around the world, after the summer, which is expected to be ready. But it’s unclear if they’ll arrive on time.