Fourth Covid jab to be offered to entire population

EVERYONE living in Spain will be offered a fourth dose of the Covid vaccine, irrespective of their age and medical conditions, confirms health minister Carolina Darías.

“What still needs to be decided is when,” she said in an interview with Spain's channel six, La Sexta.

During the morning talk show, Sra Darías said dates 'close to autumn' were being discussed, since this would likely be when the next batch of vaccines was received.

Spain's contracts with pharmaceutical companies, signed through the European Union, mean vaccines for the extra booster are guaranteed to arrive, but not immediately, since they will be a new formula adapted to protect against newer mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Although Sra Darías says there is 'no set date as yet', she assures that 'at some point everyone will be offered one'.

Initially, they will be rolled out to the over-80s and the immune-compromised who have not yet had a fourth dose.

The original plan, earlier this year, was for only these people to be vaccinated a fourth time, but the immunisation schedule was halted in May.

Spain's government wanted to wait for the updated vaccine formula, which would protect against the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus.

Since then, dose number four has only been given to those with a depleted immune system which means their protection against the virus after being treble-jabbed remained significantly lower than that of the general population.

After the adapted vaccines arrive in Spain as part of the European Union's managed distribution programme, those who were initially earmarked for the extra booster will be called up, then the rest of the population will be summoned in descending age order after the higher risk groups are worked through – following the same strategy as with the first two doses, administered gradually over 2021.

The national Public Health Commission says it will be closely monitoring the epidemiological situation over the next few months, and prefers to wait until the newer RNA-messenger formulae adapted to protect against more recent strains of Covid are ready for use.

Given that over 90% of the population is now fully vaccinated – with only the under-fives, those with a serious allergy that would make vaccines unsafe for them, or those who do not want to have it making up the remainder – ordering in enough for a fourth dose for the entire headcount is not as urgent as it was for the first and second doses given last year.

To this end, the strategy of waiting until the upgraded formulae are ready is unlikely to change unless a spike in cases leading to a sharp rise in hospital admissions is seen.

According to front-line medics, the only people brought into intensive care or requiring urgent treatment on a ward – as opposed to observation, as a precaution – as a result of Covid are those who have either not been jabbed, or who have pre-existing health conditions that could become seriously complicated when combined with a bout of Covid.

The latest news on the updated vaccines is that the two key pharmaceutical companies behind them, Pfizer and Moderna, have just submitted the results of clinical trials to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Anyone who has been treble-jabbed, or double-jabbed within the last 272 days, does not need to show a Covid certificate when travelling or returning to Spain from another European Union member State.

Those who might want to travel beyond the EU's borders and who downloaded a Covid certificate after their first jab should be aware of the time limits and ensure they acquire an updated one showing their third dose.

This, at present, does not have an expiry date for travel purposes, although that may change when dose number four becomes available to the general population.