MADRID – With just over two weeks to go, schools are about to reopen in Spain. An exciting moment because the Spanish regional authorities have a clear goal in mind; the complete vaccination of all over 12-year-olds.
Even though the corona figures are still falling every day, this remains a hot topic, especially because the corona incidence is highest among teenagers. This was again evident from the corona figures today. The average number of positive tested cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks is still highest among young people between the ages of 12 and 19. The average incidence within this group is 665.67.
The group that follows are the twenty-somethings with an average incidence of 545.24 per 100,000 inhabitants. The incidence of the past two weeks across Spain fell further on Monday to 317.35 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Crux is in mandatory vaccine waiting period
The challenge is mainly the time when all over 12-year-olds must be fully vaccinated. The academic year in Spain will start again from September 7, although it varies per Spanish region. Although the Spanish regions are coming to an end with administering the first shot, it will be difficult to fully vaccinate everyone because there must be at least a few weeks between the first and second shot for the vaccine to work optimally.
Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine recently changed guidelines; the waiting time between the two injections may be shortened to 21 days. This gives the Spanish regions more room to fully vaccinate young people more quickly.
Spanish regions vaccinating young people
According to data from the Spanish Ministry of Health, as of this writing, 59.1% of young people between the ages of 12 and 19 have had at least one shot. 14.8% of these young people have already been fully vaccinated.
The Balearic Islands is the area in Spain where the vaccination of school-age children is the fastest. No less than 44.6% of young people have been fully vaccinated. However, Murcia is well behind schedule as only 1.6% of young people from this region are fully vaccinated.
Despite the fact that it is exciting how far the Spanish regions have come with vaccinating young people, it became clear last week that pupils and students will start their school year again with almost the same rules as those in force last academic year.
