Valencia increases administration of extra doses of coronavirus vaccine

Friday 7th January 2022 – PRESS RELEASE with Mike Smith

The regional health ministry in the Comunidad Valenciana is increasing the administration of additional doses of the coronavirus vaccine. To date, 1,466,750 extra doses have been administered in the region: 191,943 in the province of Castellón, 729,827 in Valencia and 544,980 in Alicante.

The immunization campaign will remain active both this Friday and over the weekend, and pediatric vaccination in schools will also resume next week. Applications will be handed out to parents or guardians on Monday, and immunization will begin on Thursday.

As the regional health secretary Ana Barceló explained: “At the moment we are continuing with the administration of extra doses, mainly to those who received the double dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but there are departments that have been ahead of schedule and this week have been vaccinating people in the group aged between 50 and 59“.

However, a dozen health departments in the region are already ahead of initial forecasts, due to the peculiarities of the population they serve (patient profile, geographical dispersion, etc), and have been contacting and vaccinating this specific age group, including the General University Hospital of Castellón, La Plana, Sagunto, Requena, Gandía, Arnau de Vilanova-Llíria, Elda, Orihuela and Sant Joan d’Alacant. The rest will start with this age group from next week

The process is being developed in the 500 permanent vaccination points that are distributed throughout the Comunidad Valenciana as well as in local health centres, and is run by 149 immunization teams along with the equipment provided by the Ministry of Defense that eight health departments have progressively incorporated.

Once the immunization of the 50-59 age group has been completed, the health ministry will begin scheduled appointments to those over 40 to administer the extra dose as well.

The second phase of pediatric vaccination begins

Next week, coinciding with the return to school after the Christmas break, the Comunidad Valenciana will resume the vaccination of the under 12s. The campaign will focus this time on students aged 5 to 8 as well as children aged between 9 to 11 who were unable to be vaccinated before Christmas due to being confined, for not having the permission of their parents or guardians, or for any other reason.

In order to receive the vaccine, the first step is for the family to fill out, sign and return the authorization that will be distributed by the school. It is expected that this procedure can be completed between Monday (the day on which the authorizations will be delivered) and Wednesday so that the administration of the vaccine can begin on Thursday 13th January.

The process takes place in the schools themselves, during school hours and at the educational level to preserve the usual groups of coexistence. In addition, as in the first phase of the pediatric campaign, the little ones will also be allowed, at the time of the injection, a family member to enter the centre to accompany him emotionally.

With this second stage of the pediatric vaccination campaign, the immunization of all children aged 5 to 11 who reside in the Comunidad Valenciana will be covered.

In the first phase, which took place normally before the Christmas holidays, 107,360 students received the first dose of Pfizer’s pediatric vaccine.

For many years, you’ve told us how much you love what we’re doing and some of you have even asked for ways to say thanks. For us, there really is nothing easier to show someone how much you appreciate their efforts than buying them a beer (or a wine; or even a coffee) – it’s so simple. Click on the link below to find out more.