Health Department aims to have the entire population over 65 vaccinated by June

BarcelonaThe Department of Health aims to have vaccinated the entire population over 65 years in June. This week the first doses will be given to the over-80s and the general subdirector of Health Promotion, Carmen Cabezas, has advanced that the territories that have already finished immunising this group will be able to start vaccinating 79-year-olds this week. In fact, some primary care teams in Lleida or Raval in Barcelona have already begun to schedule vaccinations for this age group. "We have to maintain a regular rhythm of vaccination with the doses that we get and not all territories have the same population structures. Some are not as old as others and they have to have some autonomy," explained Cabezas.

However, according to Cabezas the first round of vaccination for people between 70 and 79 is expected to start next week throughout Catalonia. This is a group with more than 600,000 people who have to receive a vaccine based on messenger RNA, i.e. Pfizer's. "They are a very large group and we will need a few weeks to vaccinate them, but once they have been given the first dose we will move on to the band of 65 and 70 years," said Cabezas

The idea is that this group can receive the Janssen vaccine, which is single-dose and is expected to arrive in mid-April, but also that of AstraZeneca. That is, as long as the State extends its use to the entire population. "We will move more and more towards the interchangeability of vaccines," explained Cabezas. And this does not mean that first and second doses of different vaccines will be combined, but that members of the same age group will be given vaccines from different manufacturers.

Meanwhile, immunisation continues with AstraZeneca for people between 60 and 65, 32.9% of whom have already received the first dose. The Secretary of Public Health, Josep Maria Argimon, has been optimistic about the vaccination campaign and has highlighted the great effort made by health professionals during these four days of Easter holidays. In total 50,483 vaccines have been given in the 34 open centres, with 264,034 doses in the last seven days.

361.350 weekly doses

Cabezas also assured that the plan is being executed "at a good pace" and has argued that Catalonia has reached peaks of more than 80,000 doses administered in a single day. The problem, she recalled, is that the inoculations are strictly linked to the "periodicity" of the vaccines and that there is still much uncertainty around supply.

Catalonia has received 361,350 vaccines this week - 168,300 AstraZeneca doses at the weekend and 193,050 Pfizer doses on Monday - and hopes that 52,000 more will arrive from Moderna in the coming days. In total, 1,039,623 people have received the first dose - 13.4% of the elderly population - and 443,479 have received both doses (5.7%).

The regularity in the arrival of Pfizer doses is fairly certain and allows to boost the campaign, since this week almost 200,000 vaccines will be allocated exclusively to first doses, but the case of AstraZeneca is a "roller coaster" and a "lottery", according to Argimon. Of the 168,300 AstraZeneca doses that arrived over the weekend, the Health Department has already administered 50,000 and expects to administer another 68,000 by Friday. The other 50,000 will be be kept in reserve because in seven or ten days it will be necessary to administer second doses, and the Department does not have any information on when another shipment will arrive.

According to Cabezas, when more doses arrive, as has happened these days, the country shows that it is able to accelerate the pace of vaccination to the maximum, since there are professionals and spaces to administer them: there are dozens of vaccination points, as well as half a dozen large spaces prepared for mass vaccination.

"All the doses are used".

The other reason is the high demand: the population is eager to get vaccinated. In fact, the percentage of people who refuse the vaccine or who do not show up for vaccination at the scheduled time is minimal. "Sometimes it happens, but much less than in other vaccination campaigns, such as the flu, because covid is a very desirable vaccine," explained Cabezas. The health authorities have assured that Catalonia does not have any excess doses. "All are used," insisted Cabezas.

If someone doesn't turn up at a vaccination point with AstraZeneca, the fact that the vaccine lasts a few days and can be stored in the refrigerator means they can all be used. As for Pfizer, vials expire within five days of thawing, but finding candidates is very simple: health centres know who to call and ask them to come as soon as possible.