Castile and Leon: Influenza and COVID vaccination: who, when and where?

where and how

Health staff will visit residences for the elderly and disabled, as well as day centres, to administer the vaccine. However, for the rest of the non-institutionalized population, the system will be the same as last year, with advance appointment requests by phone, in person at the health center or by requesting appointments through the SacylConecta app. Activity.

Carry out two simultaneous punctures – one in each arm to determine which vaccine corresponds in the event of a possible local reaction – unless otherwise instructed by the relevant party or physician, whether in residence or elsewhere for general exercise, whenever provided Vaccines will be allowed once there is a plan.

By the last week of October, communities will have received approximately 400,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and the same amount of flu vaccine is already available.

Vaccine types and side effects

The vaccine against Covid 19 that will be administered in the 2023-2024 season is a monovalent vaccine against the Omicron strain XBB.1.5 subvariant, preferably XBB.1.5, which ensures protection against the circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. A vaccine that no longer contains antigens from the original strain that caused the pandemic. This is BioNTech/Pfizer’s Comirnaty, according to the CHMP (Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use), and according to the committee, “It is widely documented: Side effects are usually mild and transient. “They often include headache, diarrhea, joint and muscle pain Pain, fatigue, chills, fever, and pain or swelling at the injection site. ” Moderna and Novavax have also adapted their vaccines to Omicron XBB.1.5 but are awaiting approval. They are not currently participating in vaccination campaigns.

dose

Against influenza, Castile and Leon will provide a total of 805,500 doses of up to five different types of vaccines, depending on the age group to enhance the immune response or due to allergies, with an investment of 10.5 million euros, which will be available in all provinces every week All will receive vaccines, including a new intranasal vaccine for children aged 24 to 59 months to prevent infants from getting the vaccine because it already exists and is equally effective.

Target groups for COVID-19 and influenza

Flu and Covid-19 vaccinations are recommended for:

• Persons 60 years of age or older.

•Persons aged 5 years or older in centers and nursing homes for persons with disabilities, as well as other long-term institutionalized persons and residents of closed institutions.

•Under 60 years of age with the following risk conditions: diabetes and Cushing’s syndrome, morbid obesity, chronic cardiovascular, neurological or respiratory disease (including bronchopulmonary dysplasia), cystic fibrosis and asthma, chronic kidney disease and nephropathy Syndrome, hemoglobinopathies and anemia or hemophilia, other coagulation disorders and chronic bleeding disorders, as well as patients with blood products and multiple transfusions, asplenia or severe splenic dysfunction, chronic liver disease (including chronic alcoholism), severe neuromuscular Disease, immunosuppression (including primary immunodeficiency and due to HIV infection) or drugs, and transplant recipients and complement deficiencies – cancer and hematological malignancies, cerebrospinal fluid fistulas and cochlear implantation or waiting, celiac disease, chronic inflammation Diseases that cause cognitive impairment – Down syndrome, dementia and others.

•Pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy and women in the postpartum period – women who have not been vaccinated within 6 months after giving birth and during pregnancy.

•Persons living with highly immunosuppressed persons.

•Personnel from public and private health and social care centres.

• Persons working in essential public services, such as national security forces and corps, firefighters or civil protection, etc.

Also recommended for influenza

In addition to the above, it is recommended that the following groups of people receive influenza vaccination:

• Population of children aged 6 to 59 months. This is a novelty in the immunization calendar of Castilla and León. Children 6 to 23 months will receive the vaccine intramuscularly, and children 24 to 59 months will receive the vaccine intranasally.

•Personnel from educational centers at any level of education.

• People between the ages of 5 and 59 are at higher risk for complications from the flu. This group includes smokers.

•Students doing internships at the Center for Health and Social Care.

•People who work on farms, poultry farms, pig farms or mink farms or who come into contact with wild animals.

How does the season come?

For this flu season, the region’s Directorate of Public Health hopes that as anti-coronavirus measures such as masks provide protection against respiratory infections and reduce infections, the disease will normalize after experiencing the “immunity debt” of previous flus. . . The health department expects the epidemic to last about ten weeks this winter; this has not been possible in previous projects due to restrictions and regulations on transmission.

Regarding the coronavirus, Public Health Director Sonia Tamames has already estimated that “the virus may stabilize and widespread seasonal vaccination will not be required in the future.”