Mass vaccination against covid could begin around June

Health Department expects collaboration from health and safety services and insurance companies

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Medium shot of a nurse administering the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to a policeman at the Campclar police station of the Mossos d'Esquadra, in Tarragona — A nurse administering the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to a policeman at the Campclar police station of the Mossos d'Esquadra, in Tarragona. ACN

BarcelonaOnce key workers and staff at schools have received the jab, mass vaccination will begin. If the Spanish government's delivery schedule is met, the Health Department expects this could be in "towards the end of the second quarter" of this year, that is, in June.

This was explained by the Secretary General of Health, Marc Ramentol, in an interview with RAC1, where he also said that if the Janssen vaccine is approved in mid-March and deliveries start in April, the influx of doses will be "much broader", because four different vaccines could be used (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen). The Health Department foresees that when it is necessary to vaccinate the general population it will use large spaces, such as university campuses and some emblematic places, such as Camp Nou and the Sagrada Familia. The Deepartment also hopes to recruit more staff outside the public health system, such as occupational risk prevention professionals and mutual accident insurance companies.

For now, however, vaccination is focused on key workers, such as pharmacists, physiotherapists, firefighters, police officers, emergency services and prison staff, who have begun to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine this week, as well as people at risk, such as those with oncological pathologies, who will receive the first doses of the Pfizer or Moderna jab at the end of next week.

As long as the general population is not vaccinated, then, social and mobility restrictions will be needed to stop the spread of the virus. Ramentol has said, however, that there is "some room" to look to relax the restrictions on trade in the next review of the measures if the decline in indicators is maintained, and has hinted that one of the sectors that could begin to open is shopping centers, which have been closed for 153 days. "Logically, we will suggest it," he said, because the indicators are improving, even faster than expected.

However, Ramentol has lowered expectations when it comes to relaxing the curfew, because it is one of the most "effective" restriction and a lot "more sustainable than the closure of a particular sector". Ramentol also warned that there would not be normal mobility over Easter, in the line of the Spanish government's warning a few days ago. "It will necessarily be different, because the less mobility there is, the better," he said

Ban on Mobile World Congress not on the cards

Ramentol also indicated that on the dates when the Mobile World Congress and music festivals are scheduled, we will still be suffering the pandemic, but it is expected that immunisation will be "much higher" thanks to vaccination. That is why he said that they are not considering banning the event, for now, but neither "pretending that nothing has happened". In this sense, he was "delighted" to repeat the experience of the study that was done in the Sala Apolo. "If at some point, from now until summer, we have the opportunity to repeat some experience emulating a mass event, such as Mobile World Congress or festivals, we will be delighted," he said.