Spain’s Ministry of Health announces new details on the following target groups eligible for vaccination against Covid-19. Not only age plays a role, but certain professions are also given priority for a corona vaccine.
Age and occupation are decisive factors in the vaccination campaign in Spain
Despite several setbacks, such as delay in the delivery of vaccines, Spain continues to vaccinate the population. Now that a large proportion of the elderly in nursing homes and care personnel have been vaccinated, the Ministry of Health has announced which groups will be next.
Target group for mRNA vaccines in Spain
At the moment the over-80s are being vaccinated and after this target group it is the turn of people between 70 and 79 years old. Once this target group has received the vaccine, people between the ages of 60 and 69 will follow. People under the age of 60 who suffer from another serious illness are also added to this target group. All people in this target group will receive one of the mRNA vaccines. At the moment these are the vaccines from Pfizer / BioNtech and Moderna.
Target audience for Astrazeneca vaccine
Public Health has also agreed to the following vaccination target group for people between the ages of 45 and 55. This target group will receive the vaccine from Astrazeneca. The same vaccine is also administered to primary care employees. This is followed by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacy personnel, forensic employees, home care workers, employees in children’s centres, day care centres and prison staff.
Extra priority target group for other vulnerable professions
At the moment, discussions are still taking place within the Spanish government whether there should be an extra priority group for people who are more vulnerable to the virus because of the level of exposure. This includes, personnel working within the security and police services, emergency services, the army and teachers.
How is vaccination campaign progressing in Spain?
On February 17, 3.35% of the Spanish population had the first vaccination and 2.38% of the population has already been fully vaccinated. The Spanish government’s goal was to have 70% of the population vaccinated by the summer. With the current numbers, that goal still seems a long way off. The specially designed website predicts that the entire Spanish population will not be vaccinated until October 2024.