The Government of Extremadura will begin this Monday, the 14th, the vaccination campaign against seasonal flu and covid-19, to protect the most vulnerable groups in the Autonomous Community. The objectives that the Extremadura Health Service (SES) has set for this joint campaign, which will end on January 31, 2025, are to achieve 75 percent vaccination in the elderly and in health and social health personnel, as well as overcome 60 percent in pregnant women and people with risk conditions. Double vaccination is aimed at people with a higher risk of complications or serious conditions, prioritizing residents in social health centers and the population aged 80 and over. Those over 60 years of age, inmates in disability centers and residences, people institutionalized for a long time and residents in closed institutions must be vaccinated. Likewise, those under 60 years of age with diseases that increase the risk of suffering from the flu or covid; pregnant women, in any trimester of pregnancy; and women during the postpartum period, up to 6 months after childbirth and who have not been vaccinated during pregnancy. Also people living with those who have a high degree of complications if they become ill with these pathologies and essential professionals, to reduce the impact and maintenance of critical and essential services to the community. Likewise, the staff of public and private health and socio-health centers and establishments, and workers in essential public services such as the State Security Forces and Bodies, Civil Protection and firefighters. As in the previous campaign, the SES will enable, approximately in the second half of November, some health centers to vaccinate the target population of the region against flu and Covid viruses in the afternoons and without an appointment. COVID VACCINATION The SES already has 131,000 doses of Pfizer that will be increased as the campaign progresses, as well as doses of the vaccine from the HIPRA laboratory, intended for those users who have a contraindication for the administration of RNA. Given the scientific evidence and the new recommendations from the health authorities, starting this year, vaccination against Covid will be seasonal during the annual time of greatest virus circulation, coinciding with the flu. Vaccination against covid will not be generally recommended for people under 60 years of age without risk factors. Vaccination is recommended regardless of the number of doses previously received, although at least 3 months must have passed since the last one administered or since the last infection. The vaccination site for the target population of this campaign, as long as they can travel, will be the usual local health center or clinic. If you do not belong to the SES but to the Muface, Mugeju and Isfas mutual societies, the vaccination will be carried out at the health center or office closest to your home. FLU VACCINATION In the case of vaccination exclusively against flu, this year there will be two important developments. The first of them is that the high-load vaccine (Efluelda) will be administered, which is the one that offers the greatest protection, to the entire population aged 70 and over, in addition to all people residing in senior centers. and social health centers for 60 years and over. Extremadura will vaccinate these population groups with Eflueda compared to other communities that only use it for the institutionalized group in senior centers and others, at most, from the age of 80. The other novelty is that, although flu vaccination was recommended last year in a healthy population between 6 and 59 months, this year the intranasal vaccine will be administered for the first time. This has a series of advantages over the intramuscular vaccine and is that it generates immunity at the mucosal level, more effectively limiting the replication of the flu virus and thus the infection and transmission to third parties, in children between 24 and 59 months. This will also avoid parenteral administration, since it eliminates the puncture and pain and it is assumed that its acceptance improves. In this campaign, the SES, which recommends flu vaccination for the smoker population under 60 years of age, has invested 3,420,000 euros in the purchase of 275,300 doses of flu vaccine.
