Catalonia will receive 5,800 doses of Moderna vaccine next week
Health Minister claims 600,000 doses will arrive in Spain by mid-February
MadridSpanish Minister of Health, Salvador Illa announced that Spain will receive the first doses of the Moderna vaccine next week. Illa claimed the country will have received 600,000 doses mid-February. If deadlines are met, some 5,800 doses will be in Catalonia by next week according to the Catalan Minister of Health, Alba Vergés. In an interview with RAC1, Vergés noted that they will be used to vaccinate 2,900 people, since - like the Pfizer vaccine - it is also given in two doses. "In total, we expect about 100,000," he said Vergés.
The Moderna vaccine was authorised by the European Commission on Wednesday following the recommendation made by the European Medicines Agency, which deemed it safe and effective. Illa explained that it will also be a double dose vaccine that will be administered in parallel to the Pfizer vaccine, already in circulation in the State.
"[Moderna's vaccine] will reinforce the vaccination plan," said Illa, who explained that the vaccines will arrive at a central warehouse coordinated by the ministry, which will be responsible for distributing them to the communities. The minister was once again optimistic and reiterated that the communities will soon have "a cruising speed" when it comes to administering the vaccines. For now, in the whole of the state only 23% of the available doses have been administered, although Illa has insisted that by summer there will be "70% of the population vaccinated".
The minister also explained that despite the fact that the two vaccines will be administered in parallel, the vaccination plan will not be altered and, therefore, the Moderna vaccine will also begin to be administered among the population in residences and among their health professionals. "It doesn't alter the vaccination groups at all," Illa insisted.
Illa rejects home confinement
"Complicated weeks are coming and you have to keep your guard up," Illa warned. Pending an update of the latest data this Thursday afternoon and with almost 2 million infections since the beginning of the pandemic, concern about a third wave has led to the possibility of extending restrictions. Illa has ruled out a total lockdown and insisted that there is already "a range of measures agreed between communities that allow room for action to double the curve". Even so, the minister has called on the population to follow closely the restrictions in place throughout the State.
