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The flu and Covid-19 vaccination campaign began today, Monday (October 14, 2024), for the general population in the health centers. The main aim is to improve vaccination rates in all risk groups recorded in previous campaigns.
According to a press release from the Conselleria de Salut on Monday, the main innovations of the campaign include the pilot vaccination plan in schools, in which 24 public, state-funded and private schools will participate – 11 in Mallorca, 8 in Ibiza and Formentera and 5 in Menorca – as well as the Ability to make appointments online.
Anyone who wants to be vaccinated against the seasonal virus can make an appointment via the InfoSalut Connecta telephone number – 971220000 – or via the website grip.caib.es. There you can also see the opening times of the health centers where vaccinations will be available without prior registration from November 4th. The vaccinations are offered on an outpatient basis in 16 health centers as well as in the hospitals in Can Misses (Ibiza) and Mateu Orfila (Mahón).
The vaccination campaign is aimed at everyone over 60 and everyone under 60 who has one of the identified risk conditions. In total, this target group includes 606,685 people on the islands (486,040 in Mallorca, 47,434 in Menorca and 77,204 in Ibiza and Formentera) and 458,323 people (366,549 in Mallorca, 36,877 in Menorca and 54,897 in Ibiza and Formentera) in the case of Covid-19.
The vaccination is recommended for people over 60 years of age, people over 65 years of age who live in nursing homes, facilities for the disabled or closed institutions, as well as for people over 12 years of age who suffer from a high-risk disease such as diabetes, morbid obesity, chronic cardiovascular disease, neurological or respiratory diseases, kidney or liver diseases, including alcoholism, severe neuromuscular diseases, immunocompromised persons, including those whose immune systems are weakened by the AIDS virus (HIV) or medications, and transplant recipients, celiac disease, persons diagnosed with cancer, chronic inflammatory diseases Medical conditions and people with disorders or illnesses that cause cognitive dysfunction, such as Down syndrome or dementia.
Vaccination is also recommended for pregnant women at any time during pregnancy and up to six months after delivery, for people who live with severely immunocompromised people – transplant recipients, people with chronic kidney failure or those infected with HIV – as well as for smokers and healthcare workers – and social institutions and students who complete an internship in these institutions.
On the other hand, it is advisable to vaccinate workers in essential public services, firefighters and civil defense officers, professionals in kindergartens and childcare facilities, and people working in poultry, pig, mink or wildlife farms or establishments.
This Monday also begins the pilot project in schools as well as the general vaccination of children aged six to 59 months (4 years and 11 months), which will be completed on November 14th.
The reason for the general vaccination of this age group, which was already carried out during the last influenza campaign, is that children in this age group often get influenza, and often very seriously. They are also often the main transmitters of the flu virus to other target groups. This not only offers the child individual protection, but also protects vulnerable people around them from infection.
The vaccination schedule for these healthy children consists of a single dose. The youngest children, aged six months to two years, are given an inactivated injectable vaccine. The remaining children in the age group of two years to four years and 11 months will be vaccinated with an intranasal flu vaccine.
As with previous influenza campaigns, since the introduction of Covid-19, health service centers have offered the possibility of administering both the influenza vaccine and Covid-19 to those for whom it is indicated.
The double vaccination will also be offered to the entire population with high-risk conditions from 12 years of age, pregnant women, people living with severely immunocompromised or elderly people with higher risk diseases, staff of essential services and workers in health or social centers, with the only exception of students in training who are only recommended a flu vaccination.
Finally, the Covid-19 vaccination is also recommended for children aged six months to 12 years who suffer from any of the following diseases (as well as people living with them): recipients of hematopoietic progenitor cell transplants, recipients of primary and acquired immunodeficiencies or people being treated with immunosuppressants, as well as people suffering from severe chronic cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological or neuromuscular diseases.
Source: Agencies
