Date Published: 06/05/2021
ARCHIVED - Andalusia begins vaccinating 2,000 Algeciras port workers to halt spread of Indian variant
Andalusia will vaccinate workers at Algeciras Port to prevent to spread of Covid variants imported by ship.
After seven confirmed cases and 17 suspected cases of the B.1.617 Indian variant have been reported amongst the crew of ships in Spain’s ports during the last week, Andalusian health officials have confirmed that they will vaccinate 2,000 Algeciras port workers in a bid to prevent imported variants spreading across the country.
The Andalusian government said they would begin administering the vaccines today (Thursday May 6) after the port operators union in Algeciras demanded protection for their workers, whose jobs often bring them into contact with the crew and cargo on board ships which have travelled from other countries.
Since April 30, seven confirmed cases of the Indian variant have been reported among the crew of ship the ship ‘Prometheus Leader,’ after it docked in Vigo, Galicia.
Four crew members are now in hospital in the Galician city of Pontevedra, with one in intensive care. The remaining 18 crew on board the ship are now in quarantine and being monitored by health workers.
Spanish authorities identified a further 17 suspected cases in Spain, including 13 among crew aboard two ships in Valencia, three among crew on a ship docked in Bilbao, and four on an oil tanker docked in the Canary Islands.
Despite concerns the new variant is behind the current outbreak in India, experts have said they do not believe the strain is any more fatal than other Covid variants.
Spanish authorities will maintain rules enforcing a day 10 quarantine on those travelling to the country from India for at least two weeks however, in a bid to prevent the further spread of the strain, while Andalusia will vaccinate workers at the busy international port of Alegicaras to prevent further outbreaks.
Last week, Andalusia broke its own previous record of the number of vaccines given in one week, administering 391,864 jabs and is set to administer even more this week.
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