For the first time, the Basque Country will offer influenza vaccination to children aged 6 months to 5 years (some 73,000 children).
Bilbao, October 2 (European Media) –
People over the age of 60 and those in high-risk groups in the Basque Country can book an appointment today to receive both the flu and covid-19 vaccines from October 9. The immunization campaign started in nursing homes last week and opened to other groups on November 6, and they can make appointments from October 30. For the first time, influenza vaccination is systematically offered to children aged 6 months to 5 years (approximately 73,000 boys and girls).
The Basque Country has 864,720 doses of influenza vaccines and 400,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, both of which have updated ingredients to ensure better protection against different strains and variants.
The Minister of Health, Gotzone Sagardui, together with the Director of Public Health of the Ministry of Health, Itziar Larizgoitia, and the Coordinator of the Osakidetza Public Health Project, Enrique Peiró, presented this Monday the vaccination campaign against influenza and covid-19 in Euskadi, in addition to the systematic influenza vaccination of the pediatric population. In addition to innovation, consideration is also given to reducing the age of high-risk groups from 65 to 60, thereby increasing the number of high-risk groups to 700,000.
As the consultant explains, the immunization campaign starts as usual in nursing homes in the last week of September, and starting today high-risk groups, including children, can now access it through the Osakidetza website or by calling your health center from October Vaccinations begin next Monday the 9th.
The rest of the group wishing to be vaccinated can apply for an appointment from 30 October and be vaccinated from 6 November. In both cases, vaccination or both vaccines can be requested.
Sagadoui explained that under the motto “Prevention is better than cure, get vaccinated”, the main goal of this year’s event is once again “to protect the individual health of the most vulnerable while safeguarding the collective health”.
The Health Minister stressed that whatever the epidemiological situation is at any given time, “it is necessary to provide maximum protection to citizens, especially the most vulnerable.”
Likewise, he stressed that today, vaccines remain “the most effective preventive measure against influenza and covid-19,” stressing that two “simple but effective” preventive measures “are frequent hand washing and the use of vaccines.” Masks, the latter, especially for those with respiratory symptoms.
(There will be an extension)