Date Published: 24/02/2021
ARCHIVED - Undertakers and funeral workers in Spain demand priority in coronavirus vaccination
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
Those working in the sector have been in the frontline of the pandemic for the last 12 months
As vaccination against coronavirus begins across Spain in professionals viewed as being priority groups, such as police officers, firefighters and schoolteachers, there is great indignation in another sector which has been in the “front line” ever since the pandemic reached this country a year ago and in which resources have been stretched to unprecedented limits due to the effects of Covid-19.
The group concerned is the undertakers and funeral directors of Spain, who along with their staff consider themselves to be at great risk due to their close proximity to those who have died after becoming infected with Covid-19. The feeling among professionals in the sector is that they are “the last link” in the health services chain, and that although in March last year they were considered to be at risk in the same way as medical professionals, since then they have been largely ignored.
Alfredo Gosálvez, the general secretary of the national association of funeral services (Panasef), is quoted in the press as reporting that the association contacted the Ministry of Health and other authorities in December to request information regarding when his members could expect to be vaccinated, but that little response has been received other than statements from some regional governments to the effect that they will be advised in due course.
While awaiting this information, undertakers continue to carry out their work, fully aware that this is one sector in which strike action or failure to meet the expectations of the public is not an option. They collect the deceased from residencies, hospitals and private homes, with the latter the most worrying aspect as they often have no means of knowing whether the cause of death was related to Covid or not.
In addition, they come face to face with members of the public who, mourning their loved ones, are not wearing facemasks, not ventilating their homes adequately and not limiting the number of people from different households gathering in one place.
To date, only in the region of Madrid have provisional dates been published for the start of vaccination in the funeral services sector, with staff included in Phase 2 of the regional immunization plan, while more vague commitments have been received from regions such as Aragón, Catalunya and Cantabria.
In the Comunidad Valenciana, meanwhile, some health areas are including undertakers in their vaccination program without any official announcement having been made.
No complete data have been compiled concerning the rate of coronavirus infection among funeral workers in Spain since the virus was first detected in this country a little over a year ago, but Panasef reports that the number of absentees from work in Catalunya is now over 10 per cent of the entire workforce. This makes it necessary for extra shifts to be worked and for more staff to be taken on as the sector remains keenly aware of the need for their services to remain prompt, efficient, discreet and sensitive despite the extra workload created by the pandemic.