MADRID – Now that more than 71% of all residents over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated in Spain, the last objective of the campaign has been accomplished. Now the priority is to contact all unvaccinated residents vulnerable to Covid-19 especially those above 40 years of age.
A vaccination rate of 70% has been shown to be insufficient for achieving herd immunity. However, meanwhile, vulnerable people must still be protected against the coronavirus and therefore must be vaccinated as soon as possible. This was announced by Health Minister Carolina Darias after the Interterritorial Council last Wednesday.
Ministry of Health data shows that now 82.8% of Spain’s residents have received at least one dose of vaccine. However, according to immunologists and vaccinologists, at least 90% of the population must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. This is specifically against the delta variant of the coronavirus.
New strategies
To move towards 90%, an additional 4.7 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be sent to the autonomous regions. In order to be able to vaccinate as many people as possible, more and more vaccination locations are being opened. Furthermore, injections can be made without an appointment. Also, a number of regions have also announced they will shorten the period until vaccination for all people who have been infected with the coronavirus. This period was initially set at six months after the infection.
Spain in world top 10
The group of people who did receive the first shot, but who, for various reasons, did not attend the second appointment, are also tracked down. Thanks in part to this active vaccination strategy, Spain is among the ten countries worldwide with the highest percentage of inhabitants with at least one vaccination.
The Spanish health authorities will announce next week, their decision on a possible third dose of the covid vaccine.
Incidence dropped 25% within a week
However, despite the successful vaccination campaign, the virus incidence in Spain is still high. This also applies to the percentage of hospital beds occupied by covid patients. From the peak in the last week of July, the decline in the number of new cases is now stable. The incidence of the past two weeks was 399 infections per 100 thousand inhabitants on Wednesday. Compared to a week ago, this is a decrease of almost 25% (then the incidence was 528).
The decline that has started can be seen in all age categories. But most infections still occur in teenagers and in their twenties. The incidence within this age group (with the lowest rate of unvaccinated residents) is still 800 cases of infection per 100 thousand inhabitants.
