Madrid, October 16 (European Press) –
On Monday, the Madrid community began to vaccinate 1.6 million people simultaneously against influenza and Covid-19 (booster doses), an activity that will continue until January 31, unless scaling up is necessary for epidemiological reasons and is planned Increased professional staff at the Madrid Health Service (Sermas) to adapt to vaccination forecasts.
The Minister of Health explained that in the first phase, the campaign will focus on people over 65 years old and the health and social health professionals who look after them “in order to protect the most vulnerable as quickly as possible”, Fátima Matut Matute, during a visit to Capital Alpine Health Center for a care consultation, where the process began.
Starting from October 30, the focus will be on dual protection of people over 60 years old and risk groups of any age, such as patients with chronic diseases and pregnant women. In addition, influenza vaccination will be offered to children between 6 months and 5 years old, a first for the region, according to the instructions of the General Directorate of Public Health, which organizes the process.
The campaign will be carried out mainly in health centers, public hospitals and residential buildings for the elderly and disabled in the region. The adviser explained that, like every year, her department will develop a concrete plan to provide health centers with the necessary personnel to vaccinate the population, a plan that is already underway.
The regional government has allocated nearly 19 million euros to purchase 1.6 million doses of vaccine, 100,000 more than the Madrid community will vaccinate 1.4 million people in 2022.
Furthermore, in order to raise public awareness of the need for this protective measure, the Autonomous Community of Madrid has launched a campaign that includes posters, radio programs and advertisements in newspapers, television and online media. Regardless, as the consultant noted, it was well received by the population, according to data indicating requests for appointments on the agenda.
Appointment request
To access this service in the public primary care network, users must make an appointment with a caregiver. To do this, there are several options: go to your health center in person; call the latter’s phone number and choose option 3; use the flu vaccine button in the information kiosks of such medical institutions; through the health appointment APP; or in the Autonomous Community of Madrid on the website.
From October 30, all these systems will be activated for all target groups.
Other enabling points
In addition to the above, places where you can receive double immunization against influenza and COVID-19 include the Madrid Community Vaccination Center located at 15 Oraá Street in the capital; the Public Hospital of the Madrid Health Directorate (risk patients); the Occupational Health Services of the Health Center and the City of Madrid Council Health District Resources.
The regional administration is also working with the Official College of Physicians of Madrid to vaccinate health professionals.
The latter, like the mutualists, will receive a third booster dose against coronavirus from today at the Enfermera Isabel Zendal public hospital.
In all these cases, like other campaign recipients, they will receive a vaccine adapted to the new Ómicron variant (XBB1.5) in accordance with international and national recommendations.