The vaccination campaign will begin one month later because the flu injection needs to be modified

BarcelonaThe World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended modifying the flu vaccine to provide better protection against circulating strains, which is why the campaign to vaccinate the most vulnerable citizens against respiratory viruses in Catalonia is being postponed until October 5, one month later than in previous years. This was announced this Wednesday by the Department of Health, which, to compensate for this delay, will open appointment booking systems at the end of July with the aim of allowing the population to schedule their injection in advance. One of this year's novelties is that vaccination among teachers and professors will be reinforced, as children are the main transmitters of the flu and are highly exposed.

The campaign will begin on October 5 with people living in residences, those over 80 years old, pregnant women, and children between six months and five years old. On October 26, those over 60 years old will be added. Health authorities want to encourage the majority of the population to get vaccinated by appointment, which is why, starting from the last week of July, people included in the first phase of the campaign will be able to book an appointment. In this way, the department aims to concentrate the majority of vaccinations before December 18 (before the Christmas holidays) and anticipate the usual flu epidemic, which tends to accumulate many cases around those dates.

The Secretary of Public Health, Esteve Fernández, clarified that the vaccines will be available until March. Despite the push for the population to book appointments in advance, from November 16, it will also be possible to go to primary care teams to receive the vaccine without an appointment. Each center will have set time slots in which they will receive people who wish to get the vaccine without an appointment and administer it to them. Last year, 39.5% of immunizations were "opportunistic," meaning when a patient goes to the CAP for another reason and the injection is administered, and 14.6% were spontaneous, meaning without a prior appointment.

Although there were "some mismatches" in the first days of the walk-in service at the CAPs last season, the department considered that it subsequently worked correctly and contributed to the increase in vaccination. Some professionals strongly criticized the measure because it meant an extra effort for the staff at a time of high healthcare activity due to respiratory viruses such as influenza and covid-19. However, Fernández regretted the delay in the campaign: "We would like to start vaccinating on September 15 or 20, but we have to start the first week of October".

More emphasis on teachers

Another of the campaign's new features is the reinforcement of actions aimed at teaching staff. Health is working with the Department of Education to increase vaccination among teachers and professors, as they are considered a particularly exposed group because children are the main transmitters of the flu. Fernández admitted that until now, teachers had been "somewhat forgotten" in vaccination promotion strategies and assured that this year specific actions will be deployed to improve coverage. Likewise, for this campaign, Health will reinforce vaccination in healthcare centers, will maintain for the third season the agreement with the Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges of Catalonia to promote the recommendation of immunization in pharmacies, and will drive the involvement of healthcare personnel through coordination with professional colleges.