Catalonia opens vaccination for all young people from 16 to 29 years old

• The ‘conselleria’ advances the second dose of AstraZeneca in the group between 60 and 69 years old at eight weeks

• Calls the unvaccinated 40 to 49 years to get immunized urgently: those who enter are between 42 and 65 years

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The Ministry of Health announced today that it will suddenly open the vaccination for young people between the ages of 16 and 29 from this Wednesday. In Catalonia, this group is made up of 1,158,399 people. The ‘minister’ Josep Maria Argimon has clarified that, however, appointments for the next few days They are already full and it is likely that this group will not find a hole until next week. Given the strong increase in infections, Salut also advance the second dose of AstraZeneca at eight weeks between 60 and 69 year olds.

Catalonia thus joins other communities such as the Balearic Islands, that have also opened immunization for people between 16 and 29 years old, which, today, are a great source of infections. They will be administered Pfizer (indicated from 12 years old) and Modern (from 18), messenger mRNA drugs. To minors between 16 and 17 years old they will not need parental consent.

Argimon and the Secretary of Public Health, Carmen Cabezas, have announced this measure at a press conference on the immunization process. Cabezas had already said on Monday that the ‘conselleria’ was studying this possibility, although then there was no decision made about it.

But the great high number of new infections (Catalonia has registered 3,500 more this Wednesday alone), which are growing exponentially day by day, has led the Catalan Administration to make this decision, since infections are occurring mainly in the unvaccinated population, that is, among those under 30 years of age.

Besides, the delta variant (india) of the coronavirus (which “will surely be the majority next week “, according to Cabezas) is up to 60% more infectious than the alpha (the British), hence the urgency to immunize the largest bulk of the population. “The positives have multiplied by 10 in two weeks “, said the ‘minister’.

Despite this, as Argimon has explained, the Procicat does not plan to “reverse” the de-escalation, at least for the moment, since the indicator in which Salut is most fixed, that of occupation in ucis, is not having an “effect” for now. “Yes we are monitoring the tension experienced by primary care. “The highest incidences of covid-19 are occurring in Barcelona and its metropolitan area.

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In addition, due to the strong increase in infections and the “worrying” epidemiological situation, As Argimon has recognized, Salut has decided to advance to the eight weeks the second dose of AstraZeneca (which until now was set at 10 weeks) among the people of 60 to 69 years, with the aim of protecting them as soon as possible. “Have sufficient doses To advance this interval, more than 300,000 will arrive on Friday, corresponding to all the second doses that we were missing, “Cabezas said.

“We also do a call to the people of 40 to 49 years who are not vaccinated, is a group that is also at risk “, said the ‘minister’. Those admitted to hospitals are between 42 and 65 years old, and among them are unvaccinated people but also people with a single dose.

Although, for now, there are still “higher than admissions” in hospitals, primary care centers (CAP) It is being “very affected” by the increase in infections. “And this has a repercussion important in vaccination “, has warned Argimon.

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The epidemiological situation that Catalonia and, more globally, Spain are experiencing is occurring in other parts of Europe. “Go 20 days behind the UK. There was a large increase in cases, but serious cases or mortality have remained flat. We knock on wood so that it is also like this here, “explained Argimon.

Catalonia has already issued more than one million EU covid certificates. “The fact that if a person has suffered the disease, he only needs one dose, and that is the certificate,” said Cabezas. In addition, Salut has updated the pandemic protocol and now correctly vaccinated people (with the two doses) do not have to do quarantine, according to the Secretary of Public Health. In addition, Salut now recommends vaccination in people pregnant

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