Date Published: 03/12/2020
ARCHIVED - Health workers in Murcia Region begin training to administer covid vaccine
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Training will begin next week
On Tuesday the president of the Murcia Region, Fernando López Miras, detailed the actions being taken in the region against the covid-19 pandemic in an appearance at the Regional Assembly in Cartagena.
During his speech, he said that health personnel from the health centers of the Region will begin their training next week to be able to administer the coronavirus vaccine starting next January.
"Finding a safe and effective vaccine is a key element of the exit strategy from the pandemic," said Miras, who stated that "the Region has one of the best logistics systems for the distribution of vaccines, together with the group Hefame, and with the involvement of 85 health centers, 164 clinics, 10 hospitals and all residences."
He used the recent flu vaccination campaign as an example, saying that in seven weeks nearly 400,000 people have been vaccinated against flu in the region using the capillary network of existing health centres which will be amended and vaccination points amplified as necessary as the vaccines become available.
Last week the Spanish national government confirmed that the first to be offered the vaccine when it becomes available will be healthcare professionals, those living and working in homes for the elderly, the residents of carehomes and those with disabilities. These will be followed by those aged 64 and over, those with medical conditions which place them at greater risk, those working in essential services, the more vulnerable and those who live or work in enclosed spaces.
Spanish Cabinet gives approval to the purchase of more than 52 million doses of the products developed by Moderna, Janssen and CureVac.
These purchases will supplement the agreements already reached with Pfizer and Astra Zéneca, whose vaccines are expected to become available in this country during 2021, and they reflect Spain’s continuing adherence to the buying policy adopted by the EU in the name of member states. The European Commission has so far reached purchase agreements with seven pharmaceutical companies, of which Spain has confirmed its participation in five.
Precise details have also been supplied by the Ministry of Health regarding the number of doses corresponding to Spain from the European Commission’s purchases: 20,875,725 doses of the Janssen vaccine, 8,348,979 doses of the Moderna product and 23,483,184 doses of the 225 million to be supplied to the EU by CureVac. Cabinet has also given permission to raise the budget for the Ministry of Health in order to make sure these purchases go ahead.
EMA approval to be fast-tracked over the next six weeks
In the meantime, the task of approving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is being approached by the European Medicines Agency with as much haste as possible, the intention being to issue authorization for the first of them on 29th December and the second on 12th January. This could lead to the first vaccinations in Spain taking place early in the new year (barring any last-minute hitches), making it possible to immunize at least 18 million people in this country.
In all, the EU has now closed deals to acquire almost 1,400 doses of different Covid Vaccines, of which the plan is to hold 600 million in reserve, and the proportion corresponding to Spain amounts to approximately 10 per cent. But Spain is also likely to take another 10 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine early in 2021 as the EU has an option to increase its order from 200 million to 300 million.
These and the Moderna vaccine are likely to form the bulk of the initial vaccination program, and clinical testing has given rates of 95 and 94.1 per cent effectiveness in the Pfizer and Moderna products respectively.