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ARCHIVED - Rollout of fourth dose of Covid vaccine begins in Valencia Region: who gets the jab first?
More than 1.6 million people in Alicante province and the rest of the region will be offered the second booster jab
On Monday September 26, the Valencia Region's Ministry of Health began its latest vaccination campaign, administering the fourth dose of Covid vaccine (the second booster jab), but who will receive the inoculation first?
Not surprisingly, as the aim is to protect the most vulnerable first, the health department has prioritised around 30,000 people who live or work in residential homes and care facilities, administering new bivalent vaccines which provide protection against the subvariants of Omicron (those currently present), as well as against other variants that circulated previously.
Of these vaccines, 13,600 will be distributed in Alicante province, in particular at residences in the Alicante and Sant Joan (San Juan) health areas.
In addition to people living or working in nursing homes and other disability care facilities, other population groups considered to "be at risk" will also receive this new booster dose, but at a later date which has yet to be confirmed. These include healthcare workers and people aged 80 and over, in accordance with the Ministry of Health's Covid-19 Vaccination Recommendations for autumn in Spain.
"The aim is to start the campaign by protecting the most vulnerable groups for the autumn," explained the Minister of Universal Health and Public Health, Miguel Mínguez. "It is important to remember that immunisation is the best protection against severe forms of the disease and that the vaccine continues to save lives," he stressed.
Vaccination in residential homes will be followed by the immunisation of staff in health centres, services and establishments, both in primary care and in hospitals, public and private, and people working in emergency health services in contact with patients.
Inoculation will then continue by age group, and in this case, the aim is to simultaneously administer the second booster dose with the flu vaccine at health centres on dates yet to be announced by the Regional Ministry of Health.
Bearing in mind that age is the main risk factor for serious illness and death, it is planned to start with those over 80 years of age and complete the campaign with the vaccination of those over 70 and 60 years of age.
Combining all the groups, 1,659.34 people are expected to receive the second booster dose by the end of the year.
As of Friday September 23 when the health department released the latest Covid data, 228 people were being treated for Covid in hospitals across the region, 15 in ICU: 27 in the province of Castellón, 0 in ICU; 66 in Alicante, 1 in ICU, and 135 in the province of Valencia, 14 in ICU.
Also of interest: Hunting with shotguns banned at Alicante mountain park 10 months after cyclist was wounded
Image: GVA Sanitat
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