COVID-19 cases have been quietly increasing bit by bit over the summer, and until now, on the cusp of autumn, we strangely don’t know anyone who has been infected with the virus in the last week, including the president of the government.
Latest data from the Acute Respiratory Infections Surveillance System coordinated by the Carlos III Health Institute, More than 130 cases were registered per 100,000 people last week. 40% of SARS-CoV-2 tests in primary care are positive.
The COVID-19 hospitalization rate last week was 3 per 100,000 residents. For those over 60, the rate is 10 over the course of the season, and for those over 79, the number is almost multiplied by six.
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Unlike other occasions, we do not see political leaders asking people to get vaccinated. Immunity acquired, whether through vaccination or natural infection, is high enough that this wave of cases has not caused panic, but it should not be underestimated.
As autumn arrives, things change. If COVID-19 has not been proven to be a seasonal virus until now, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus certainly do. Together, these three could put a health system that already knows what to do in a difficult position..
To this end, both the World Health Organization and the European Center for Disease Control and Prevention have issued recommendations for vaccination against the new coronavirus. The recommendations have been adapted by the vaccination planning and registration presentation of the Interregional Committee of the National Health System, where the Ministry of Health and the Autonomous Communities have agreed on how to carry out the vaccination. It will be as follows.
When does vaccination start?
The presentation, approved in July, set an October start date for COVID-19 vaccinations, although it noted that the exact date could vary depending on vaccine availability.
However, an increase in cases in recent weeks has led the Inter-Territorial Committee on Public Health Events start early during the last week of September and Octoberreports European Press.
The presentation also noted that priority for vaccination may currently be given to residential and older people aged 80 and over, as well as health or social care staff.
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Amos Garcia RojasThe head of the Epidemiology and Prevention Department of the General Directorate of Public Health of the Canary Islands explained to Spanish newspaper that although the new coronavirus does not have obvious seasonal characteristics, “there is reason to believe that it will eventually become seasonal.” And this is why we should get the flu vaccine at the same time we get the flu shot.
Flu and COVID-19: Get both vaccines at the same time
This year will be the first time since the SARS-CoV-2 alert has ended that both the flu vaccine and the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered at the same time.
Jesus MolinaA member of the Spanish Society of Preventive Medicine, Public Health and Health Management explained to this newspaper that the combined vaccination makes sense “basically for logistical reasons and we take the opportunity to do a one-time vaccination together with the influenza vaccine” .
Furthermore, because of the levels of immunity that the population has reached, he explained that the greatest risk at the moment is co-infection with other respiratory viruses such as influenza, which could create new mutations with greater immune evasion potential and greater virulence.
García Rojas noted that influenza vaccination must “before we start having cases, usually from DecemberCurrently, the influenza incidence rate in primary care is 3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
La-Ponencia de Vacunas also pointed out that no difference was observed in the immune response after influenza vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine were given together or separately, so this dual vaccination is completely safe.
Who must be vaccinated
Risk groups included in the coronavirus vaccination will also receive the flu vaccine.Including All people 60 years or older and those below that age but with at-risk conditions.
Risk status categories include a broad range of conditions, from diabetes to HIV, including morbid obesity (defined as a body mass index greater than 40), chronic cardiovascular, neurological, respiratory or renal disease, anemia, hemophilia, chronic alcoholism, cancer, Dementia, celiac disease or Down syndrome.
Candidates are also candidates who have lived in a residential or closed institution for five years or more and do not fall into this category.In addition, vaccination is recommended Pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancyand those who gave birth less than six months ago.
On the other hand, vaccine presentations recommend that people who live with highly immunosuppressed people (such as people receiving treatment for cancer and blood disorders or HIV) get vaccinated.
Finally, staff in public and private health and social hygiene centers, as well as staff in essential public services, such as state security forces and institutions, firefighters or civil protection personnel, must be vaccinated.
What vaccines will we receive?
On August 30, the European Medicines Agency approved the latest evolution of Pfizer’s Cominarty vaccine, which is based on messenger RNA technology. The original version was the first approved in Europe for COVID-19, and this is the fourth update and the first last year.
The European Center for Disease Control recommends the use of this vaccine, adapted omicron subseries XBB.1.5, which has been dominant in recent months. In Spain, 25% of the sequenced variants corresponded to this lineage, to which we had to add 25% of XBB.1.5 with the F456L mutation. In other words, 50% of the sequenced variants belong to this vaccine.
While enough batches are arriving to vaccinate the population, vaccine demonstrations indicate that those currently available will be administered. These include the messenger RNA vaccine before this update and Bimervax, the recombinant protein-based Covid vaccine developed by Spanish company Hipra.
What will happen with the Spanish vaccine?
In April 2023, the EU authorized the Bimervax vaccine as a booster dose for people aged 16 and over who had previously received a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine.
It contains a protein that combines the alpha and beta variants of SARS-CoV-2, which were common during part of 2021. However, vaccines have shown that Neutralizing ability against beta, delta and omicron BA.1 strains.
Following the approval, the government announced the acquisition of 3.2 million doses of Bimervax for €31 million. It is the first country to announce the completion of a pre-agreement for the purchase of up to 250 million doses of vaccines signed by 13 EU member states.
The Hipra vaccine will be used in people for whom the use of messenger RNA vaccines is contraindicated, primarily due to a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to one of its excipients.
How many doses will we get?
The vaccine presentation explains that only one dose is given, either as a primary vaccination (i.e., the person has not had any previous vaccinations) or as a booster vaccine.
People with severe immunosuppression can receive additional vaccines as long as they are spaced at least five months apart. Children under five years old can receive two doses..
Regardless of the number of doses, people who want to be vaccinated must have had an infection or received their last dose at least more than five months ago.
What about the flu vaccine?
In addition to the above-mentioned groups, it is also recommended that other groups who do not receive the COVID-19 vaccine receive the influenza vaccine. This is the first year the vaccine will be available to all boys and girls aged 6 to 59 months (5 years). So far, this has only been done if they are in a dangerous situation.
Additionally, long-term treatment with acetylsalicylic acid is recommended for smokers and people between the ages of 5 and 18 years.
On the other hand, the vaccine presentation recommends its administration to students doing internships at the Center for Health and Social Hygiene as well as the Center for Social Hygiene Workers who come into contact with farm animals or wildlifesuch as veterinarians, ranchers, hunters, conservationists, or zoo workers.
In light of recent cases of non-human influenza viruses spreading on farms and even in domestic animals such as cats, the recommendation aims to “reduce the chance of co-infection with human and avian or swine viruses and reduce the possibility of recombination or genetic exchange between the two”. Virus. “