Vaccination delays and rise in infection rates cause widespread alarm

The delays in vaccinating people against Covid-19 are starting to generate concern and complaints in some autonomous communities, although the main focus is still on the alarming rise in the number of people testing positive across virtually the whole country, but especially in Catalonia.

Some regional governments published new statistics on Sunday, which show a generalised increase in infections, even though the post-Christmas celebration figures are not yet included.

The situation in Catalonia is particularly of particular concern, with the head of Infectious Diseases at Barcelona's Hospital del Mar, Robert Güerri, warning that the increase in the number of cases has created a "worrying" situation in the city's hospitals, which are starting to get so overwhelmed that if urgent action is not taken, staff will have to start "prioritising" care.

There were 1,483 new positive diagnoses in the last 24 hours in the region, which has increased pressure on hospitals and could well lead to further restrictions.

There has also been a notable increase in cases in Andalusia, Castilla & León, Murcia, Aragon and the Basque Country.

In contrast, the number of new cases is falling in Galicia and Navarra, the latter registering a notable drop in cases with only 66 new infections after having more than 100 a day for the past five days.

The slowness of the vaccination process, which began only a week ago, has also attracted a great deal of criticism, especially in Madrid and Andalusia.

The regional government in Madrid is insisting that the number of doses assigned to their region is insufficient and that not even 10% of Madrid residents will be vaccinated by 30th June with the current assignment.

There is dissent in Andalusia as well, where the leader of the region's socialists, Susana Díaz, called the president of the Junta, Juanma Moreno, "contemptible" for saying he would be delighted if he could get half of the population of vaccinated by June, and asked central government to speed up the supply of vaccines.

In Catalonia the vaccination campaign has kicked off at a snail's pace, with only 13% of the doses received having been administered so far. In order to rectify the situation, the Health Department has announced that it will be vaccinating seven days a week, including holidays.

With regard to the two different vaccines currently available, the director general of Public Health, Pilar Aparicio, explained that the Pfizer and Moderna would be administered indistinctively as there is "no difference in their effectiveness and no need to prioritise one over the other", and that logistics would determine which one was used.

Meanwhile the festive period in Spain is drawing to a close without the traditional Epiphany or Three Kings processions that are usually staged in almost every village, town and city. In Madrid, the traditional arrival of the Kings will be substituted by six explosions of light in the shape of comets launched from different parts of the city. Any actual processions in areas with low Covid-19 infection rates will have a very limited audience and will be much shorter than usual, with some being entirely static.