ARCHIVED - Valencia region to start mass vaccination of 30 to 39 year olds next week

Vaccination will begin in the region's three provinces, including Alicante, on Monday, July 5  - 12 days ahead of schedule.

The Valencia region has brought forward the vaccination of people aged 30 to 39-years-old by almost two weeks, and will begin administering the first doses on Monday, July 5.

The focus is very much on the younger age groups following a surge in infections over the last few days, with 945 new Covid cases confirmed by the region's Ministry of Health on Tuesday (146 in Alicante province), 52 per cent of whom are aged under 30.

The remainder are aged 30 to 49-years-old.

An 18-year-old boy, is currently in a serious condition in ICU in Elche, Alicante province, following end-of-year school trips to Mallorca which have led to an outbreak of more than 1,100 positives across Spain, around 80 in the Valencia region, with almost 5,000 people now in quarantine.

"The relaxation of prevention measures is linked to an increase in social interaction in larger groups of people, causing the increase in cases currently being observed," according to the health department's deputy director of epidemiology, Herme Vanaclocha.

President of the regional government, Ximo Puig, has warned that those under 40 are "currently the highest risk group as they are not vaccinated", but assured that July will be "the month of vaccination for these people". 

Moderna and Pfizer are expected to be the vaccines of choice, pending the approval of Janssen's vaccine for this group. 

Mass vaccination is considered one of the three "social phenomena" that will facilitate de-escalation across the region by the government, together with the end of the academic year and the arrival of summer. 

More than two million people have already received one dose of vaccine and 1.6 million are completely immunised.

"There are only two months left to reach a decisive level of vaccination and herd immunity", stressed Puig, which the Ministry of Health expects to reach at the beginning of September. 

IMAGE: GVA