Ministry of Health to begin immunizing 11-year-old boys against human papillomavirus (HPV) later this year by administration of the 9-valent vaccinewhich offers greater protection against diseases caused by the papilloma virus.
The Minister of Health, Juan José Pedreño, made this announcement at the inauguration of the IX Conference of the Vaccination Program of the Region of Murcia, in which he congratulated “the professionals of the Health Prevention and Protection Service of the Ministry of organization of this forum, for his work a progress in the field of prevention and reduce the incidence of those diseases preventable by vaccination”, and recalled that the vaccination of the population against covid “has been the main tool for controlling the pandemic”.
He also mentioned “the excellent vaccination coverage calendar of the Region, which is among the best in Spain and which have managed to eliminate or make it disappear almost completely various vaccine-preventable diseases”, although he underlined “the importance of vaccination as a fundamental measure for the prevention of diseases, therefore it is necessary to continue to influence the exhaustive compliance with the vaccination schedule in both children and adults”.
The recent vaccination campaign against meningococcus ACWY of adolescents and young people born between 2001 and 2007 allowed the immunization of 84,000 young people.
Calendar improvements
Since last February, the vaccination schedule has included the shingles vaccine for adults with risk factors. like new now includes those born in 1958that is, those who will turn 65 in 2023 and who will be able to access this vaccination starting from January 2023.
The Region was the first Community to administer a new pneumococcal vaccine. Persons aged between 65 and 69 who have not been vaccinated previously or pending from a booster dose more than 5 years ago can be protected against pneumococcus with the new conjugate formula, in addition to risk groups and people in residence from 18 years of age.
Murcia was the first autonomous community to jointly administer the flu vaccine with the booster dose against covid, in order to avoid a further movement of the population towards health centres, especially the elderly and chronically ill. It is also the only community offering this year the live flu vaccination which can be administered intranasally to children of 2, 3 and 4 years. Due to its characteristics, this vaccine is more widely accepted among both parents and professionals.
On the other hand, the Region of Murcia together with Galicia and Andalusia are the first three autonomous communities in the administration of the pediatric flu vaccine and the rest of the autonomous communities will join next year.
The vaccination day addresses aspects of great relevance and interest such as the surveillance of respiratory diseases, influenza and the respiratory syncytial virus. News about vaccination against covid in children and novelties in pneumococcal vaccination, strategies for achieving vaccination in risk groups, and will discuss herpes zoster vaccination and meningococcal vaccination.
