Laura Velasco / Daniel Serrano
Saturday, July 22, 2023 | Updated 07/23/2023 11:22 a.m.
The return of travel abroad after the pandemic has caused a drastic increase in activity at the Almería International Vaccination Center, located at Calle Hermanos Machado, 23, in the capital. Appointments, as IDEAL has verified, are available within a month, so there will be citizens who will go to their destinations without immunization. Uncertainty seizes especially those who travel to places where receiving certain vaccines is mandatory to enter.
However, as María Luisa Maroto, director of Health of the Sub-delegation of the Government of Spain in Almería, has assured this outlet, “no one is left to attend to even though it is advertised that the appointment is mandatory to take it out on the website of the Ministry of Health “. «The traveler who comes without an appointment for urgent reasons because he has an upcoming trip is attended to. Maybe you have to wait a little in consultation, but a space is found for you, even if it is not on the same day because all the places are taken, but you can rest easy because you will not leave without your prescriptions and your necessary travel vaccines, “he added.
However, Maroto reiterated that it is advisable to make an appointment one month before departure. “We always tell our patients the same thing: if they prepare their suitcases, prevention measures must also always be prepared, including health ones,” he stressed. “It is very important to go to the International Vaccination Center because there are times when you not only have to get vaccinated, but you have to go through a consultation because the advice that is given about what is given about preventive measures and the diseases that can be found during the trip are as important as vaccination, “said the director of Health.
From the International Vaccination Center they encourage those who have scheduled trips abroad to find out and, if the destination country requires it, make an appointment as soon as possible. Some doses are mandatory, others only recommended. The ideal is to get vaccinated two months before taking off, although one month would also be acceptable. Fifteen days would be the limit, the least advisable.
pre-pandemic rhythm
The numbers speak for themselves. Last year, when the most severe covid restrictions had already disappeared, 1,651 users were vaccinated in the Almeria center between January and August. In 2021 and 2020, the hardest years of the health crisis caused by the coronavirus, the figures plummeted. This 2023, so far this year, until June 19, 1,512 travelers have been served, which is why it is expected to greatly exceed the data for 2022. Of course, there are still somewhat below those of 2019, when in the same temporary space 1,946 were served, 22.3% more.
However, with the avalanche of appointments in the coming months, professionals are confident of reaching figures very similar to those before the health crisis. «This is a center that had an annual growth, until 2019, of 7%, which is quite important. With the covid, well, you know what happened, trips were limited until they were completely suspended. Already in 2022, the level of attention, of vaccinations, increased a little, but this year we are almost at the levels of 2019, so we are almost certainly going to reach them. It seems that the issue of travel outside of Spain has been a ‘boom’ and although they say that they are very expensive, people really want to travel, “said Maroto.
In addition, he added, “there is another type of traveler, who goes to sub-Saharan Africa. There are many travelers of this type here because there are many workers who return to their country of origin in these months and then return. It is important that they leave vaccinated against diseases, for example, such as malaria, so that later when he comes to his other season of work, the disease does not return to us ».
In the center they have reinforced the consultations and are administering doses daily. Although the one month delay is a headache for many, in other Spanish provinces the wait is more than three months. In this sense, they remember that it happens as in the appointments of other hospital specialties. They are not immediate.
When administering some vaccines or others, various factors are taken into account, such as age, risk factors or the duration and type of travel. «It is not the same that it is seven days than two months; that is tourist or international cooperation; that the accommodation is in hotels or that the person goes backpacking, ”says a professional.
As they often say, there are no trips, only travelers. In addition, working at the International Vaccination Center requires being up-to-date with health news, and they are informed daily about the epidemiological situation in the countries. For example, a measles outbreak has recently been detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If someone plans to travel there, their vaccination status must be analyzed.
Regardless of the vaccines, in each country there are hygienic-sanitary recommendations that the center transmits to the users. The most common are to be careful when consuming water and food, or to wear clothing and footwear that protects against mosquito bites. Each trip is a world, so the tourist must know these tips in depth before leaving the country.
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2023-07-22 21:01:26
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