South African strain may gain a foothold in Spain

MadridCases of the British variant already account for 25% of infections in Catalonia, with much higher incidences in other regions in Spain. The variants are here to stay and, in the face of the detection of the first cases of the South African variant, which spreads 20%, 30% or even 70% faster and resistant to some vaccines to some vaccines, the Ministry of Health admits that it could end up gaining a foothold in Spain. That is why the director of the Centre for Coordination of Alerts and Health Emergencies, Fernando Simón, has warned on Monday that despite the general decline in all indicators in Spain we should avoid being overconfident when de-escalating measures, because the longer the restrictions are maintained - he spoke of weeks and not months - the more guarantees that variants do not end up causing a significant amount of new covid-19 cases.

The alert comes on the same day that the European Centre for Disease Control has called for more lockdowns in response to the virulence of the new variants. At a press conference, Simon warned that "we still have a long way to go" to lower the current incidence of infections from above 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days to under 50, which is the goal. "We still have a few weeks ahead of us and we have to be very careful," he said, and has again denied that there is a different transmission by age due to the British variant. On Monday, he met with the regional director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Europe, Hans Kluge, who, according to Simon, has communicated the need not to relax the restrictions but at the same time has evaluated "effusively" the decline in all indicators every day.

According to the epidemiologist, Spain would have already achieved some stabilisation in mortality, with an average of 200 new deaths per day. Last weekend there were 702 deaths, a high figure but lower than the previous weekend, with 909 deaths. The health ministry forecasts that there will be an even "clearer" decline in the coming days.

Endorsement of a covid-19 passport

For the first time there has also been a significant change in what could be the effects of vaccination: there are fewer infections among the over-65s in care homes than among those who live in their own homes and have not been vaccinated. In fact, Simon has stressed that the decline in the incidence of infection among older people vaccinated in residences is the highest among all age groups since the second week of the start of the vaccination campaign. That is why he does not think it "unreasonable" that the European Union should promote a covid-19 passport in the same way that there is already a similar card for diseases such as the yellow fever, although the epidemiologist has pointed out that we must take into account that the vaccine has not yet reached all areas.

Faced with this situation, he does not think it a bad idea that patents for some vaccines be released, given that they are "very essential or high-impact" products for the majority of the population. He recalled that there is experience of discussions on this issue at the international level and that agreements could be reached if it fits the "capabilities and objectives of the countries" concerned.