PROPERTY SEARCH

Date Published: 01/09/2021

ARCHIVED - Spain vaccination update August 31: almost 33 million people are now fully vaccinated

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

The country is fast approaching its 70 per cent vaccination target as 69.5 per cent of the population is now fully immunised

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Spain vaccination update August 31: almost 33 million people are now fully vaccinated

The latest data published by the Ministry of Health in Spain on Tuesday August 31 show that a further 65,673,013 doses of the coronavirus vaccine were administered in the last 24 hours.

After this latest round of jabs, the proportion of the population now fully immunised against Covid has risen to 69.5 per cent (32,996,436 people) while a further 36,431,416 people have had at least one dose of the vaccine, representing 76.8 per cent of the population. Spain’s Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, said on Tuesday that while the end of August target for ‘herd immunity’ has been slightly overshot she is confident of reaching 70 per cent in the coming days.

While 33 million have now been double jabbed, the percentage of inoculation varies somewhat worryingly across age groups. The most vulnerable populations, those aged 80 and above, now have a 100 per cent vaccination rate in almost every area of Spain, having been prioritised at the beginning of the campaign. However, this number significantly declines as the demographic gets younger, with just 57.6 per cent of those aged between 20 and 29 (2,846,817) fully vaccinated. The percentage is even more alarming when one considers those aged between 12 and 19, of whom only 1,058,185 have received both doses, representing just 27.2 per cent.

Throughout the fifth wave of the pandemic in Spain, the younger populations have been hit the hardest by the virus in terms of contagion numbers, yet the older age groups account for the vast majority of Covid-related fatalities. With the new school and college terms fast approaching, there is a very real concern that Spain could see a rebound in infections, and more devastatingly, in deaths.

There is also still some variation among the vaccination data for the different regions of Spain. Galicia has vaccinated the highest number of over-12s with one dose, at 84.2 per cent, but this is in stark contrast to Madrid, which has only administered the first dose to 61.4 per cent of the younger population. The proportions in this age group to have been fully vaccinated range from just 6.5 per cent in Cantabria up to 57.9 per cent in the Balearic Islands.

Image: Archive