Health Department begins administering the second dose of the vaccine

La Pobla de SegurThis morning the second dose of the covid-19 vaccine was administered for the first time in Catalonia. The injection of the vaccine has taken place in the care home Nostra Senyora de Ribera in la Pobla de Segur, where 59 residents and 21 workers have received the second dose.

Among those vaccinated this Sunday at this home in Pallars Jussà is Leocàdia Peña, 85 years old, who on the 27th of December was the first person to receive the vaccine in the health region of Alt Pirineu and Aran. Rosa Vilanova, 51 years old, director of the home and the first professional to be vaccinated today 21 days ago, and a total of 59 residents and 21 workers, have also been vaccinated.

Initially, the Health Department expected this second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to be administered on Monday in the same places where the first dose was given on December 26. At that time, the first person to be vaccinated was Josefa Pérez, 89, at the Feixa Llarga home in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat. This Sunday morning, however, it was announced by surprise that the second dose would be administered in a care home in La Pobla de Segur, where users could already receive the second dose as 21 days had passed since they received the first. The Department of Health has argued that the administration of the second dose has begun in Alt Pirineu and Aran for logistical reasons, and will continue tomorrow in the rest of the health regions.

The home in La Pobla de Segur is the first of 14 residential centres for the elderly, the disabled, and mental health that in the Alt Pirineu and Aran health region will receive the second dose of the vaccine in the coming weeks, according to the Department. The schedule, however, is not clear. Pfizer announced on Friday that during next week it will only send 56% of the planned doses to Spain while it reorganizes production in order to increase its capacity. This reduction, which in theory is temporary, affects all European Union countries.

Despite this, the Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, announced yesterday that the reduction of vaccines received will not affect the administration of second doses. Until now, Spain received 350,000 doses per week - Catalonia received 60,000.

As for the vaccination campaign, due to the effect of the weekend the lowest number of people vaccinated throughout the week has been reported: there are 140 373 people vaccinated in Catalonia, 2593 more than yesterday (yesterday 16 824 people had been vaccinated).