Osakidza has launched a new flu vaccination campaign, including children among its priority groups for the first time. Starting from Monday, 700,000 people over the age of 60 and 73,000 parents of children between 6 months and 5 years old living in the Basque Country can make an appointment to receive preparations. For the elderly, COVID-19 vaccines will also be provided to them.
They’re not the only ones who can bolster coverage of respiratory viruses. The health authorities have also opened this procedure to other citizens in high-risk groups, including patients with chronic diseases, immunosuppressed people, pregnant women and health and social care professionals. Both sera will be available to everyone starting next Monday, October 9.
They’re not the first to embrace either preparation this year. In Basquedi, people living in residential buildings have been vaccinated since last week. Starting October 9, the event will be moved to the health center. Those who will receive the serum in the first few weeks are people over the age of 80. Osakidetza will contact them directly by phone or through the BetiOn service to offer them preventive treatment and make an appointment. If they are unable to go to a clinic, they will also be vaccinated at home.
A month later, the next phase of the campaign will start. Starting October 30, all willing members of the general public can make an appointment to receive the flu vaccine from November 6. There will be no restriction on age range. The flu vaccination program will remain open until the end of December.
As far as anti-corona vaccine injections are concerned, the current nationwide guidelines from the Ministry of Health are that only people over 60 years old can get the injection. It wouldn’t be surprising, though, if as fall comes, it opens up to other adults, as it did last year. People who want to receive this preparation should note that this preparation is not suitable for people who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 within the past three months.
The virus may spread significantly this winter
Minister Gozone Sagardoui stressed that during this season, Basqueti will vaccinate its population against influenza for 35 years, “the disease can be mild, but it can also be serious and even fatal.” Sagardoui Yi stressed that there is “no specific treatment” for the disease and that vaccines are the “best, safest and most effective tool” to treat the disease in a mild form when infected, especially in the most vulnerable populations. middle.
The head of the health department emphasized that the main innovations of this anti-flu campaign are to include children in the vaccination scope and lower the age of high-risk groups from 65 to 60 years old to match the age of the new coronavirus and encourage “Everyone living in Basqueti is required to make an appointment to be vaccinated. There are also smokers, who this year the Ministry of Health has classified as a high-risk group more susceptible to respiratory diseases, and Euskadi has been providing flu preparedness for them for two years , and better than other groups of people as well. Ordinary people.
Itziar Larizgoitia, director of public health, said it was “impossible today to predict what the flu epidemic will look like in the Basque Country” because the southern hemisphere’s flu season has not yet provided clear enough data. Given that the pathogen is still behaving abnormally after the outbreak of the new coronavirus, experts do not rule out that “greater spread of respiratory viruses” will occur this autumn and winter.
Coronavirus and flu vaccine “update”
Osakidetza has purchased 720,600 doses of anti-influenza vaccine for this campaign, which can be increased to 864,720 doses if there is greater public demand. As far as COVID-19 is concerned, Baskardi received 400,000 preparations in October alone. This number will increase in the coming months.
Epidemiologist and campaign coordinator Enrique Peiró explained that both sera are “updated”, which guarantees strong protection for those who receive them.
In the case of influenza, the vaccine you receive will be trivalent, meaning it will protect against the four most common strains of influenza, two of which are type A and two of which are type B. Osakidetza told us that three different preparations are used to prevent the virus. It has secured 19,500 doses of vaccine from one of them (Efluelda) so that it can be used for seniors living in residential buildings.
Fluarix Tetra is a drug that stings most people. The 700,000 vaccines purchased are suitable for the entire population over 6 months of age. In addition, Osakidetza has purchased an additional 1,100 units of Flucevax serum, which will be given to allergy patients.
For the new coronavirus, the agents being used have been updated to new subvariants in circulation and are part of the omicron family of strains.