ARCHIVED - Andalusia government will vaccinate 11,000 Erasmus students before they go abroad
The Spanish region wants to make sure that students within the European exchange programme are protected against coronavirus before they travel.
Eleven thousand students from Andalusia who are soon to leave to study in other countries under the Erasmus scholarship system will be vaccinated against Covid-19 before they set off, the regional government has confirmed.
The students will be given their vaccines early as asking them to come home for their injections or registering them to be vaccinated abroad would be complicated, Jesús Aguirre, the head of the Andalusian Health authorities, has explained.
As Erasmus students generally spend between four and six months abroad, they will be given the single-dose vaccine by Janssen before they leave, the regional minister said.
Sr. Aguirre confirmed that all students registered as residents in Andalusia who are travelling abroad under the scholarship scheme are eligible for early vaccination, regardless of which universities they attend.
The region also wishes to vaccinate Andalusian medical interns before they take up their posts as the authorities consider citizens registered as residents of Andalusia to be their responsibility regardless of where they may later go to study or work.
Andalusia beat its vaccination record last week by administering 656,332 doses and is now starting to contact patients in their 30s, almost three weeks ahead of schedule. However, the health authorities have asked patients to respect their appointment times and not turn up too early to avoid long queues and crowds forming.