On Thursday, the milestone of 20 million Spaniards being fully vaccinated was achieved. Despite this, the average number of corona cases rose to 278 per 100,000 inhabitants. Still, hospital admissions and death rates continue to fall.
Spain is currently on track to have half of its population fully vaccinated. In concrete numbers, 20,528,505 (43.3%) of Spaniards have received both shots, or in the case of Janssen the only shot. 27,277,127 Spaniards (57.5%) have had at least one shot and will soon receive the second.
Vaccination main protection against Covid-19
The next target the Spanish government is aiming for is to have 25 million Spaniards fully vaccinated by July 19. Since the virus flared up among young people, many regions in Spain have taken additional measures to speed up the pace of vaccination.
Infection rates especially high among people under 30
On Thursday, the average number of positively tested people rose again. In the past 14 days, Spain has had an average of 278 corona cases per 100,000 inhabitants. This number increased by 26 points from the day before.
The average number is many times higher among young people. 911 cases per 100,000 were registered among young people between the ages of 20 and 29. That is 97 points higher than on Wednesday. Following this group are the 12 to 19 year olds with an average incidence of 798 cases per 100,000.
What about the pressure on hospitals in Spain?
One of the more important indicators of the seriousness of the situation is the hospital occupancy, and particularly intensive care units. Although the number of people who test positive is rising explosively, both the numbers of hospitalisations and deaths continue to fall every day.
The average ICU occupancy of all Spanish hospitals is currently 2%. For comparison, during the last corona peak, this exceeded 30%. An occupancy of more than 15% of Covid-19 patients reflects high risk. There are currently three Spanish regions where there is a medium risk: Catalonia (14.1% IC occupancy), La Rioja (11.3%) and Madrid (10.4%).
How serious are these high infection rates?
According to experts, the main reason for the lack of increase in hospital admissions lies in the fact that more than 70% of people over 40 have been vaccinated. In addition, the current infections are among young people. Only a small percentage of young people have been vaccinated and an even smaller percentage show such severe symptoms they have to go to hospital.
Some Spanish regions have already taken measures to inhibit further infections. Read in this article which measures and restrictions are currently in force per autonomous region.
