Calendar for vaccinating everyone in Spain released

A SCHEDULE for vaccinating the whole population of Spain against the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been released, allowing everyone to see where they fit in depending upon their individual circumstances.

As yet, it is not known which brands of the vaccine will be used, as it will depend upon which are available the quickest and which will be the most practical in terms of storage and transport.

It has already been confirmed that from January to March inclusive, care home staff and their residents will be the first to be vaccinated, followed almost immediately by healthcare workers and people who are not in official homes but need round-the-clock care, such as the very elderly or disabled living at home. 

'Phase two' has now been confirmed, and will operate from March to early June.

The full list of those who will be vaccinated during that time – although not necessarily in order – will be everyone aged 65 and over, people with high-risk health conditions that could mean catching Covid-19 would be considerably more dangerous than in a person with no medical complaints, people who work or live in very enclosed places or in communities, people classed as 'vulnerable' because of their socio-economic situation (which could be those living in homeless shelters, overcrowded accommodation or immigration centres, for example), people whose jobs are considered 'essential services' and who cannot do them without being in contact with others, teaching staff, children and young teenagers, teenagers and very young adults over 16, people living or working in areas with a very high incidence of the virus or with reported outbreaks, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, people who test positive for the virus even if they are not ill with it, and the rest of the adult population.

'Phase three' will be from late June through the summer and will include anyone in the above list who has not been vaccinated.

Priority order of the 'Phase two' groups has not been established, although it is expected that the youth and adult population in general – where they do not fall into any other category – will be last.

The 'phases' will be set according to availability of the vaccine, which is likely to be limited at first due to production speed worldwide, but gradually increase over 2021.

It is not clear whether the vaccine will carry a cost to the end recipient, as is the case with PCR and antigen tests for those who have no symptoms and have not been in contact with a 'positive', or whether the urgent need to stop the spread and get back to normal life will mean it is automatically administered to everyone via the national health system, irrespective of whether or not they qualify.