Will vaccination among young people be accelerated?

The covid passport it may be the spring that drives the vaccination campaign again. It is at least the bet of many experts, who consider that could be an incentive for young people if access to certain spaces is conditioned to the use of the pass. In short, ask for it to be able to enter a football stadium, eat in a restaurant, go to the cinema, the theater or nightclubs. But the premise has not been fulfilled in Galicia and the Balearic Islands, the two communities in which a week ago the justice endorsed the use of the document in nightlife. And we will have to see what happens in the coming days in Catalonia, the third region to implement the measure after receiving the corresponding judicial support this Thursday.

For now, the announcement of the authorization in Galicia and Baleares, on October 1, has not caused a push from the campaign. While in the first community the drop in puncture rhythm has been slowed Between twentysomethings and thirty-somethings, in the islands the data, week by week, continue to draw a downward curve as can be seen in the graph.

“It would be necessary to see how it is being demanded,” says Jaime Pérez, member of the Spanish Association of Vaccination. The expert uses his personal experience as an example. Last summer he spent a few days in Galicia, just in the period of time during which the community demanded to show the document for access to the hotel industry. “Control was extremely lax. And if no inspections are made at the end there is no control over the measure, it remains a wet paper ”, he illustrates.

Pérez is one of those convinced of the relevance of the measure to give the definitive boost to the immunization process. He remarks that although the percentage of the population that has the two doses is high (93.9% for those over 40, 77.8% for those between 30 and 39, 79.3% for those between 20 and 29 and 83.7% for those from 12 to 19) agreeing to such a restriction would allow an acceleration that would also help in the logistics of the campaign. “The dripping is constant. Every day there are people who get vaccinated, who receive their first dose, but the pace is very slow. And that makes meeting the demand of that population that is already late extremely complex. For this reason, if we managed to accelerate it, it would be much easier from all points of view, to achieve greater protection and facilitate logistics ”, he summarizes.

The immunologist maintains that rejection of vaccines as such is minimal, but he remarks that there is a population bag that due to lack of awareness or having a low perception of risk or for convenience he has not participated in the campaign. Hence the need for that final push, especially in some groups (those under 50 years of age) in which social relationships multiply and, therefore, the risk of contagion.

The French example

Although the autonomies have claimed the use of the certificate as a tool for the prevention of contagions, a way to allow or make activity more flexible in certain sectors under security conditions, also some leader, like the experts, justified the measure as a tool to encourage people to get vaccinated. In fact, outside of Spain, it was one of the arguments that Macron used when last July he announced the obligation to display the pass for access to bars, restaurants and other public spaces.

After the announcement of the French president, the booking of appointments in the vaccination centers skyrocketed, and the country went from injecting some 175,000 doses a day to 370,000. And although France managed to surpass the United Kingdom, at that time a reference in the administration of punctures, 75% of the French today have at least one dose, a percentage that in Spain stands at 89.7% of the target population .

Without vaccines there are no bistros: this is how the ‘compulsory passport’ has worked in France

Enric Bonet. Paris

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And that effect, shooting the numbers, is what Pérez believes could be achieved by following the French example. “It was possible to increase vaccination coverage. Obviously, it could be requested in activities that do not imply a fundamental right, such as leisure. A sector that has precisely been one of the great victims. There are experiences that support the use of the certificate”, He defends.

The expert also regrets that the “feeling that the obligation cannot be implemented. It is very curious that a Spaniard must have a covid certificate to enter their country, at least at airports they require it, but once inside you don’t need it at all, it’s worth nothing. It would be a good boost to reach a higher coverage level than the one we already have ”, ditch.

Criteria disparity

The consensus between the suitability of requiring the safe conduct has never been unanimous in Spain. The Ministry of Health has rejected it on multiple occasions, at least until one hundred percent of the population had had the opportunity to be vaccinated, and although Galicia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Andalusia and Melilla implanted it, until the barrage of judicial decisions Who denied its use in a generalized way, or considered doing it, no other community took the step. Either because they shared the central government’s argument or because they considered that what should be approved was a standard that standardized criteria, including Madrid, Murcia, Navarra or Castilla-La Mancha.

The scene has changed after the Supreme Galicia was authorized to apply the measure under a series of requirements (temporary limitation and limited to certain contexts). But, once the incidence has fallen to 48.18 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, Does it make sense to require the use of the pass?

Health warns of a slowdown in vaccination in the group between 20 and 39 years old

Inés P. Chávarri Data: Marta Ley

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Cantabria does not believe it, according to sources from the Ministry of Health explain to El Confidencial. The community was one of those that tried to apply it in the summer. “With the high vaccination rates that we have, it is not a priority. The question is no longer on the table”, They specify. In fact, the bulk of communities have lifted all restrictions (with the exception of the use of the mask and the protocols in schools and residences, nationwide) without resorting to the measure. Among them, the two Castiles, Madrid, Navarra, Extremadura, Asturias or Andalusia in part of its territory.

Nevertheless, several regions continue to advocate the need for the Ministry to decree a single criterion for the application of the measure such as Madrid, Murcia or Valencia. “We demand a unique legal framework throughout the country, so that its use and demand for certain activities is homogeneous in all communities “, they defend in the Health Department of Murcia, as did this Thursday Ximo Puig, the Valencian president, when announcing the lifting of most restrictions .

Other initiatives

Beyond the suitability of using the covid certificate as incentive for young people, the communities have promoted many other measures to attract the group, such as the installation of vaccination points on university campuses or shopping centers, as well as the launch of a specific campaign by the Ministry. And although Catalonia came to announce cultural incentives to give a good push to the campaign, finally did not implement the measure.

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