Alex Trelinski
COVID-19 vaccinations are being stepped up this week across the Valencian Community, with plans for mass vaccinations also announced for the region.
Valencian President, Ximo Puig, said that ‘over 79,000 doses’ were to be administered over the next few days to new groups like the police and emergency workers.
That will go in tandem with continuing jabs for people aged over 80.
Nursing homes that could not previously get the injections due to having COVID-19 cases within their facilities, will also get the jabs.
Puig held a video conference with some city mayors over the weekend to talk through the process for mass vaccinations.
The intention, depending on vaccine supplies is to provide 400,000 injections per week from April across 161 municipalities.
Where the jabs will be administered will depend on the size of the city or town, with three different categories set up.
Municipalities of less than 10,000 people will see injections offered at health centres or at local council areas close to them.
The 10,001 to 50,000 category will have injections take place on council areas.
For large cities like Alicante, Castellon, Elche, and Valencia, major venues will be used like Elche’s IFA Exhibition Centre or Valencia’s Arts and Science Centre.
The new sites will be deployed in tandem with health centres and council sites, along with the ‘field’ hospitals set up last April to deal with the possible overflow of COVID cases.
The Valencian health department has said that the number of people refusing the vaccine is low, with the figure standing at 1.8% sincethe injections started at the end of December.
They say that rejections are largely coming from those who have had the coronavirus and believe themselves to be immune.
