ARCHIVED - Basque Country becomes first region in Spain to start vaccinating 12 to 15 year olds
87,126 children will be given appointments for vaccination in September.
The Basque Country health Service, Osakidetza, has become the first in Spain to start the process of vaccinating children aged 12 to 15-years-old with the first appointments being given from today, Wednesday, July 21.
A total of 146,094 young people under the age of 29 in the region have been allocated a day and time for their vaccines, but almost a third have 'postponed' their immunisation due to vacations or because they have tested positive, leaving a surplus of 40,000 doses, which will now be given to 12 to 15-year-olds.
Vaccinating this particular age group has been shrouded in controversy, with some experts believing priority should be given to older people, but Osakidetza has justified the move by arguing that children can be carriers without showing symptoms, whilst continuing to spread the virus.
Until now, some regions across Spain have begun to schedule or even vaccinate minors, but only those aged 16 and above.
In a further bid to try to stem a surge in Covid infections in the Basque Country, which currently has a 14-day cumulative incidence rate of 515 cases per 100,000 - below the national average of 622 - the region's president, Iñigo Urkullu, has called on the central government to once again make the use of masks outdoors mandatory.
IMAGE: Archive