M. ALCARAZ.- The Ministry of Health has begun the 2024 flu and covid vaccination campaignin which they include among the priority groups of vaccination for all health personnel or who work in centers related to the field, in addition to people over 60 years of age or the population with specific risk factors.
In the case of health workers, the portfolio specifies that vaccination is recommended due to “their greater exposure and possibility of disease transmission to highly vulnerable people”, as well as to “reduce the impact and maintenance of critical and essential services to the community.”
Vaccination season 2024-2025
Health assures that during the 2023-2024 season, “very intense flu activity was seen compared to previous seasons.” Furthermore, the most affected group, with greater severity and deaths, was the people over 60 years oldespecially those 80 years or older.
Therefore, taking into account that the protection provided by vaccination or previous infection decreases over time, and that the flu virus circulates more in Spain between December and February, vaccination is recommended for the next season for groups that They are more at risk of serious illness. Within these groups are people with diabetes; those who have chronic cardiovascular, neurological or respiratory diseases; patients with cancer and malignant blood diseases; or people with immunosuppressive diseases.
Vaccination in people over 60 years of age
Likewise, they emphasize the importance of vaccination among people over 60 years of age– “Older people have a higher risk of serious illness or complications that can lead to hospitalization or even death,” it is explained. In addition, they argue that the flu is more dangerous for older people for several reasons. “One of them is that the immune system, which helps the body fight infections, weakens with age,” they explain.
“This means that, for example, while the body is fighting the flu, it is possible to contract a secondary infection such as bacterial pneumonia. A second reason is that older people also have greater chance of having other health conditionssuch as diabetes, which increase the risk of complications from the flu,” they say.
The vaccination campaign will begin the last week of September and will continue during the month of October, although the dates may be adjusted depending on the availability of vaccines. Each autonomous community has established the procedure to carry out this campaign.
