SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 20 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands has received the first batch of 273,600 doses of the new vaccines against covid-19 adapted to the new variants of ‘Omicron’ for the start, next Monday, of the vaccination of the second dose of reinforcement.
Of the total, 230,400 are from Pfizer and 43,200 from Moderna, which will begin to be inoculated next Monday, the day the campaign begins in all the autonomous communities, by agreement of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System.
The administration of the second booster dose will begin, following the National Vaccination Strategy against covid-19, for the most vulnerable population, which includes people over 80 years of age and residents of nursing homes, which in total make up a population of more than 100,000 people.
Progressively, other age groups will be included as defined in the vaccine report of the national health system.
The start of the campaign in this age group will be carried out by appointment by the health centers, so that users do not have to carry out any prior appointment request process, while the nursing teams will travel to the residences of elderly to vaccinate institutionalized people as has been happening until now with the previous inoculated doses, collects a note from the Ministry.
Experts indicate that the new multivalent vaccines, used as booster doses, can enhance and amplify the immune response and therefore protection against all clinical manifestations.
They also recall that high vaccination coverage needs to be achieved in the most vulnerable groups, regardless of their history of infection, since booster doses are associated with greater protection against the omicron variant and some of its subvariants.
Therefore, indicates the Ministry, it is necessary to maintain the recommendations to start primary vaccination if it has not yet been done, complete the vaccination schedule even if the disease has passed and administer booster doses 5 months after completing the primary vaccination –or with minimum interval of 4 weeks–.