ARCHIVED - One-third of Spanish population fully inoculated against Covid
Spain reported record vaccination rates again last week and has now administered at least one dose of vaccine to more than half the population.
One in three residents of Spain, or 33.5 per cent of the population, are now fully vaccinated against coronavirus, and 51.3 per cent, 24,325,902 citizens, have had at least one dose of vaccine, according to figures released by the latest Ministry of Health figures.
The country is likely to have beaten records again last week as 2,540,745 doses had been administered between Monday and Thursday, with official figures for Friday, Saturday and Sunday still to be released.
At the current rate, the authorities believe the Spanish health system is capable of giving between 3.2 and 4 million doses per week.
More than six million doses of vaccine are due to arrive in Spain this week, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Friday, and all regions except Cantabria and Valencia have now started giving appointments to patients in their 30s.
Madrid, for example, opened up the online booking system on Monday morning for those born in 1982 and 1983, with demand so high that the entire system crashed. The capital city has also now launched a 24-hour vaccination service.
Ceuta, Melilla, the Canary Islands and Cuenca have made even speedier progress, and have reported that they are contacting patients in the 20-29 age group.
Most regions are currently focused on vaccinating patients in their 40s, and giving second doses to those in their 50s and to those in their 60s who were given a first vaccine by AstraZeneca.
Ministry of Health data reveals that 83.3 per cent of citizens in Spain aged over 40 have now had at least one dose of vaccine, and 49.2 per cent have had both. Now, the race is on to get the younger members of the population protected among concerns over increasing incidence rates in Europe due to the Delta variant of the virus.