MADRID – Currently, all over-50s in Spain will receive an invitation for the covid vaccination. It is then expected all over-40s will have their turn from June. Currently, it is being investigated whether 16-40 year-olds can be vaccinated simultaneously as a homogeneous group from July.
The vaccination campaign is progressing well in Spain. And is currently in line with the strategy outlined by the Ministry of Health and the various autonomous regions. Moreover, it is expected a further three million new doses of vaccine per week will arrive from June. Therefore, the vaccination of all people in their forties can start in a few weeks.
Vaccinate in parallel
From then on, Spain will no longer consider making a distinction between the different age groups. All residents from the age of 16 who have not yet been vaccinated will receive an invitation for the vaccination. In particular, the regions of Madrid and Catalonia have indicated that they are in favour of this strategy.
Spokesperson José Luis Barranco of the Spanish Association for Preventive Medicine (SEMPSPH) sees this as a good option. This is because the risks from covid-19 for people aged 37 and 25 are almost equal. However, the estimate of risks of Covid-19 for young people around 25 is different to that of people around 37. Moreover, the risk of infection decreases most when as many people as possible are vaccinated in a short time.
Jaime Jesús Pérez of the Spanish Vaccinology Association also supports this vaccination strategy. According to Peréz, the number of available vaccines must be taken into account in relation to the number of people who want to be vaccinated. If sufficient vaccines are available, all non-vaccinated people over the age of 16 can be vaccinated as one group, but if this is not the case, it is better to maintain the current distribution in decades. In that case, someone of 38 will have their turn earlier than someone of 25.
The proposal to vaccinate 16-40 year-olds as a homogeneous group is now being assessed by experts from the Commission of Health. For the time being, after the vaccination of all over-50s, it is the turn of the following groups: first all 25-49 year-olds (that are 16,706,113 people), then all 18-24 year-olds (3,310,299) and finally all 16-17 year olds (949,049).
Vaccination of teens
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is currently evaluating the possibility of vaccinating all 12-15 year-olds with the Pfizer vaccine. The EMA will make a decision on this in June and this age category may also be included in the Spanish vaccination campaign.
