With the summons this Thursday of all minors between 12 and 15 years of age to receive the first puncture, Melilla has been the first to close, it could be said, a first round of the vaccination campaign. It has been the fastest, although the work has not yet finished, the second doses remain and the repechages in the different age groups are constant. But from the experience of the autonomous city, several lessons can be drawn about how its own idiosyncrasy has influenced the campaign. Religion, taxation and the military are three key issues.
If one looks at the percentages of coverage by age group, the results that the city produces are uneven. Falters in the majorsBut you get some of the best data on young people.
Thus, 82% of those over 80 have the complete guideline, a percentage that is far from 90.2% of Ceuta, and one hundred percent that touch the rest of the communities, according to data from the bulletin of the Ministry of Health. Several reasons are hidden behind the figure, as Juan Luis Cabanillas, general director of Public Health, explains to El Confidencial. The first is religion. According to the CIS, 50% of the enclave’s population considers itself Muslim, 40%, Catholic, while the remaining difference is shared between unaffiliated (7%), atheists (2%), and Jews (1%).
Inés P. Chávarri
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“Some religious beliefs can influence people getting less vaccinated. And this is something that in Melilla, surely, is noticed more than in other parts of Spain “, explains Cabanillas. For this reason, throughout the campaign, the work from the Health has been constant with the different Islamic associations of the city and with the imams so that the group was aware of the importance of vaccination. “We have had to adapt to the social reality of our autonomous city,” he sums up.
But also own taxation has been able to have its influence. Cabanillas highlights that precisely Melilla, Ceuta and the Canary Islands are the three autonomous regions that have reached the least coverage in some of the oldest groups, not only in those from 80 upwards, but also in the range that goes from 60 to 79. That be three regions with a special regime may be the cause. People who have kept their residence in order not to lose tax advantages, but who actually live elsewhere and, therefore, has been vaccinated in another community.
Be that as it may, the truth is that Melilla has reached 85.1% coverage in the range that goes from 70 to 79 years, the last position, and 86.5%, in that of 60 to 69, also in the queue of the ‘ranking’. However, in this group the differences are no longer so great with the rest of the autonomies.
The other side of the coin
As the age of the target groups decreases, the city, for the moment, stands out. Here, another of the features of the enclave can also play a relevant role. 58% of thirty-somethings have the complete pattern, the third highest percentage, and 46.6% of twenty-somethings, the second best data. And Cabanillas points out that the figures could really be higher. “The military population in Melilla it is very numerous and although we do not know the percentage of defense personnel that have been vaccinated in the city, the coverage in these two bands is probably much higher than what we are registering, “says the head of Public Health.
In fact, despite the fact that in the newsletters of the Ministry of Health The data corresponding to the personnel of the Armed Forces are included —a total of 78,176 military personnel in all of Spain have the complete guideline—, the group is not segregated by communities or provinces.
Inés P. Chávarri
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In the last population band to which the vaccine can be administered, the one that goes from 12 to 19 years, the enclave throws the best data. 26.7% of the group already have the complete guideline. A figure to which in about twenty days we will have to start adding those who attended the appeal that the city made this Thursday.
5,237 children between the ages of 12 and 15 had the opportunity to receive their first dose, and although Cabanillas recognizes that it should not be taken for granted that one hundred percent of the group has attended the appointment, “there will be people on vacation or who have been infected and have to wait,” he remarks that this call will allow an important part of the minors start the course with the complete guideline. It is a goal pursued by many communities and if achieved to a large extent, it will allow parents, students and teachers to face classes with greater peace of mind.
Seven months of campaign
“If one stands on December 27, we all had many doubts that we could achieve the data we have today For two reasons. We did not know if the manufacture was going to be feasible, if the necessary quantities would be able to be obtained, and we did not know the effectiveness of the vaccines in the real population. Today it has been proven that they are being very effective in preventing symptomatic disease, hospitalization and death, “Cabanillas details when asked to look back and remember the start of the campaign.
The CEO also specifies that Every Thursday play-offs are organized for all people who have not been vaccinated to date, in reference to those groups that are furthest behind. According to the latest published data, 63.7% of the inhabitants have the complete guideline, and 69.5% have received at least one puncture, compared to the majority of communities that are ahead.
M. Mcloughlin
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The strategy to try to reach higher percentages in all bands also includes a active recruitment of cases led by family doctors and nurses from the health centers, in addition to the specialists of the Regional Hospital. The city health personnel also continue to carry out home visits to inoculate the doses to those people who for some reason cannot leave their homes.
The truth is that some of the facilities that Melilla makes available to its citizens are not found in other communities. Since July, authorities publish a calendar so that anyone who leaves the city – nowadays, with the border with Morocco closed, there is no other option but to go to the peninsula, the islands or another country to spend the holidays—, know when you return what dates you will have to receive the second dose and thus organize yourself better.
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