During the autumn and winter months, we tend to spend less time outdoors than at other times of the year. The colder weather and fewer hours of sunlight mean that families often spend more time at each other's homes, places where children can enjoy the company of elderly relatives, aunts, uncles, and cousins, but also where viruses that cause colds and flu circulate more freely, often increasing the risk of infection. It is no coincidence, therefore, that year after year around this time there is a peak in viral infections such as the common cold, the flu, COVID-19, and bronchiolitis.

The "la Caixa" Foundation, together withGavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with the support of theGates Foundationand with the collaboration of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), has been promoting since 2008 theAlliance for Childhood VaccinationThis initiative has successfully immunized over 11.7 million children in particularly vulnerable areas of Africa, who lack access to vaccines, primarily against pneumonia. This has been made possible thanks to contributions from the "la Caixa" Foundation, donations from nearly 7,000 companies across Spain as part of their corporate social responsibility, and contributions from generous citizens.matching fundAll donations received are multiplied by four. Thus, with the formula 1 = 4, for every euro given, the "la Caixa" Foundation adds another and the Gates Foundation adds two more. In the last six years, these funds obtained by the "la Caixa" Foundation have financed 100% of the cost of pneumonia vaccination programs in Mozambique and 25% in Ethiopia during 2021 and 2022.

In 2025, the "la Caixa" Foundation, the leading private partner of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Europe, renewed its commitment to the association for the 17th consecutive year, making its annual contribution that matches all donations received through this alliance. The initiative attracts donations from companies and also extends to CaixaBank customers as a philanthropic effort in the fight against infant mortality.

]]>

With the arrival of winter, respiratory viruses such as the flu, COVID-19, and bronchiolitis circulate more intensely. The cold weather means we spend less time outdoors and gather more in enclosed spaces, facilitating the transmission of viruses. Although many of these illnesses resolve on their own, they can cause serious complications, especially in at-risk or vulnerable groups such as the elderly, pregnant women, and those with chronic illnesses. Every year, between December and January, this increase in infections leads to a rise in visits to Primary Care Centers (CAPs) and emergency rooms, many of which could be avoided with preventative measures, especially vaccination.

]]>

Every day, an additional 7,000 people are choosing to get vaccinated against the flu and COVID-19 compared to last year, since the vaccination campaign began. This was explained on Thursday by the Secretary of Public Health, Esteve Fernández, who believes this will have "a very significant impact" on preventing severe illness and its complications. This, in theory, suggests a calmer winter in healthcare facilities, since higher vaccination rates mean fewer severe cases will require hospitalization, thus reducing the strain on the healthcare system. Immunization is especially important for vulnerable individuals, the elderly, and those living in care homes, as they account for the highest rates of hospitalizations and deaths each year when the cold weather arrives due to respiratory viruses.

]]>

The circulation of respiratory viruses such as influenza and COVID-19 increases during the fall and winter, and the Department of Health has launched its annual vaccination campaign to protect people at risk of complications if infected. Given that the forecast for the coming months is that the flu season could be two to four weeks earlier—as reported this Wednesday by the Deputy Director General of Surveillance and Response to Public Health Emergencies of the Generalitat (Catalan Government), Jacobo Mendioroz—the vaccination campaign will also begin earlier than usual, in mid-September.

]]>

The outbreak of COVID-19 triggered the worst health crisis of the 21st century, and some of its serious consequences are still being felt five years later. One of these is the significant drop in routine vaccination rates—that is, the vaccines included in pediatric schedules to protect newborns from preventable diseases, such as diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, and measles. According to data published Tuesday by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, global childhood immunization coverage has improved slightly compared to 2023, when they warned that had stagnated, but last year's data is still below that of 2019. Thus, health authorities warn that the improvement is not enough to make progress towards the goals of the 2030 Vaccination Agenda, and they call on countries to make efforts to reduce the number of children who have not received vaccinations. In 2024, there were still 1.4 million more unvaccinated children than in 2019, and approximately another 4 million are missing to reach the proposed target within five years. Furthermore, the poorest countries are those with the least signs of recovery: they are the furthest from recovering pre-pandemic vaccination coverage and those experiencing the fastest population growth.

]]>

Vaccine success stories have given way to a decline or, at best, stagnation among the child population. The turning point may have been around 2010, when a combination of factors caused the number of unimmunized children against preventable diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, and measles to skyrocket, especially in developing countries, although the West is also not immune to this dangerous trend.

]]>

It's been a little less than three months since a pioneering ruling issued in Barcelona recognized the blood clots suffered by a teacher after being vaccinated against COVID with AstraZeneca doses as an occupational accident. Now, the Social Court No. 3 of Burgos has issued a very similar ruling, but with one relevant difference: in this case, the affected woman had received a first dose of AstraZeneca and two of Pfizer.

]]>

In less than two months, 110 cases of measles have been diagnosed in Spain, 17 of them reported in Catalonia. Last year, 217 were identified, according to the State Network for Epidemiological Surveillance. These data confirm a clear acceleration of infections, but the researcher at the National Center for Epidemiology-Carlos III Health Institute (CNE-ISCIII) Noemí López Perea assures that the majority of infections are imported and that, therefore, the State has not lost the status of elimination of the disease granted by the WHO.

]]>

People aged between 18 and 29 can now make an appointment to get a booster dose. The Secretary of Public Health, Carmen Cabezas, has recalled that they can get vaccinated as long as it has been more than 8 months since they received their last dose –for other age groups the term is five months– and, if they caught covid, they must have recovered at least 4 weeks ago to be eligible.

]]>

The Public Health Commission has decided this Thursday to extend the third dose of the vaccine against coronavirus for people between 18 and 39. The Ministry of Health thus extends the immunisation strategy of the population towards the younger strata of society and does so in the middle of the sixth wave. Infections continue to soar and the incidence throughout the country reached more than 3,000 cases on Wednesday. However, the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, already spoke of a "slowdown" in the rate of infections.

]]>

Rampant incidence caused by the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, responsible for most of the new coronavirus infections in Catalonia. The number of weekly cases has almost doubled in the last seven days (from 39,578 to 78,586) and, therefore, has taken much momentum growth 15 days ago, when there were four times fewer weekly infections (22,717). In fact, in seven days, it has come to infect almost 1% of the population, a record never achieved so far in the whole pandemic, according to the researcher of the Biocomcs group of the UPC Enric Álvarez. "And it will surely rise more, between 100,000 or 150,000 cases per week, that is, between 1 and 1.5% of the population will be infected in a week," predicts the expert. This Tuesday the number of cases registered passed 24,000 for the first time since the pandemic broke out, although it is not yet known whether they correspond to a single day or have been caused by a backlog in inserting the data.

]]>

The Public Health Commission has authorised the third dose for the over-40s and people who received the AstraZeneca jab. The body thus endorses and extends the inter-territorial council's proposal, which only included the over-50s. All booster doses will be administered 6 months after the last dose, except for AstraZeneca vaccinees. They will be eligible only 3 months after their last jab.

]]>

"The situation is worrying and the data is terrible". This is the Catalan government's diagnosis of the current situation regarding the pandemic. Even so, this Tuesday Catalan executive spokesperson Patrícia Plaja has ruled out the imposition of restrictions in the short term; instead, it will wait to see how contagions evolve over the coming fortnight. The Generalitat is convinced that cases will continue to grow, but it will be the magnitude of this growth that will determine the measures to be taken. This means that, unless there is a drastic change in the situation, there will be no new restrictions over Christmas.

]]>

Vaccination against covid for children aged 5 to 11 will start on Wednesday, December 15. The Public Health Commission, which brings together the Spanish Ministry of Health and the Health Departments of different regions, has approved this Tuesday to extend the immunization campaign next week, a couple of days after the arrival of the first 1.3 million doses of Pfizer's pediatric vaccine, the only one authorized by the European regulatory agencies, which is scheduled to land next Monday, December 13. Ministry of Health sources estimate that there are 3.3 million children of this age in Spain, although vaccination is not mandatory.

]]>

"In war the poor are killed; in peace the poor die". this quote from Mozambican writer Mia Couto reminds us of what is happening with the covid-19 vaccine in the lowest income countries. In the response to the pandemic we are forgetting an important part of humanity, as if it did not exist.

]]>

Coronavirus infections are on the rise across Europe, including in countries with high vaccination rates. This, in turn, has accelerated the debate on whether to introduce a third dose. Countries like Belgium, with a 74% vaccination rate, recorded an incidence of 960 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and this week have announced that all the population will be eligible for a third jab. On the other hand, in Spain, which for now registers much lower infection figures, the third dose will be applied to the over-60s and healthcare staff. The criteria, as has been happening throughout the pandemic, vary, therefore, depending on each country's health authorities and its epidemiological situation, especially until European regulators issue a clear verdict. At the moment, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepts the third dose will have to be widely administered, but experts are still working out what would be the best timing.

]]>

The Spanish President, Pedro Sánchez, announced on Wednesday that the Vaccines Committee has authorised a third dose of the vaccine against coronavirus to be given to the over-60s and also to all health and social care workers. The decision comes a few weeks after the Spanish government authorised the booster for the over-70s. In Catalonia, according to data from the Department of Health, 364,341 third doses have already been administered.

]]>

The transmission of coronavirus is accelerating throughout Europe and no country is unaffected by the threat of a new wave, not even those with low infection rates, such as Spain. So says the World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, who has warned that the continent is reliving the "most critical point" of the pandemic: some countries where vaccination remains low are suffering a boom in cases which can put their health systems at risk and could also increase the spread of the virus in neighbouring countries. "Europe is once again at the global epicentre [of the pandemic]," said Kluge, visibly concerned, who attributed this to the unequal vaccination rates between countries and the fact that some governments have continued to relax containment measures despite the epidemiological instability.

]]>

A total of 69,129 vaccine doses against covid-19 have expired in Catalonia, according to the Secretary of Public Health, Carmen Cabezas, who has attributed it to a miscalculation: they believed the rate of vaccination would increase in Setember after it fell in August, which has not happened. "The predictive models showed that in September the number of people who wanted to get vaccinated would recover, but it has been lower than expected. In addition, at vaccination points with no prior appointment we had to make sure there were vaccines available for everyone who wanted one, and this has meant some centres asked for more doses than they were able to administer in the end," she explained.

]]>