ARCHIVED - 25 million people in Spain fully vaccinated against Covid-19
Almost 53 per cent of the population have protection against the virus, as the vaccines reach younger adults
The latest Covid immunization campaign data published by Spain’s Ministry of Health on Thursday evening show that 286,223 coronavirus vaccine doses were administered the day before, taking the total since the campaign began to 52,879,267.
As a result of the latest jabs, over 25 million people in this country have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 (25,060,958, or 52.8 per cent of the population), and while the immediate aim is to increase that proportion to as close to 100 per cent as possible Carolina Darias, the Minister for Public Health, gave strong indications on Friday morning that it will probably be necessary to administer annual top-up jabs on a regular basis for the foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, the effectiveness of the vaccines continues to be underlined by the fact that with Covid incidence rates increasing sharply all over the country the proportion of cases requiring hospital treatment or leading to death is significantly lower than in previous waves of infection, as those most at risk of infection are now young adults and minors, who are less likely to suffer serious illness but have not yet received their inoculations.
The 25 million people who have received both vaccine doses or the single-dose Janssen product are among 30.2 million, or 63.7 per cent of the population, who have been given at least one jab, and as the immunization campaign continues rapidly the vaccines are now being administered to younger and younger age groups. 84.1 per cent of those aged over 40 in Spain are fully vaccinated, while 58.2 per cent of those in their 30s have been given at least the first dose.
Among 20- to 29-year-olds, the group with the highest incidence rate during the fifth wave of contagion, 13.8 per cent are fully vaccinated and 32 per cent have received at least one dose.
The regional data continue to show that for one reason or another the immunization campaign has progressed faster in Asturias than in any other part of Spain. In this northern region as many as 70 per cent of the target population are already fully vaccinated, while as many as 47.5 per cent of those in their twenties have received at least one dose (as opposed to a national average of 32 per cent in this age group).