Cristina Hodgson
SPAIN rejects decision to delay second COVID-19 vaccine shots, initially proposed with the aim to speed up campaign.
The Public Health Commission has agreed this Tuesday to continue administering the second doses of the COVID-19 vaccines in accordance with each pharmaceutical company’s guidelines, thus ruling out the possibility of delaying the timing of the second doses in order to immunise a greater number of people.
In line with the manufacturers’ recommendations for the full protection offered by the vaccine, the second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines should be administered at 21 and 28 days, respectively.
The public health commission, following the proposal from several regional goverments—Andalucia included—had considered changing the country’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy, extending the gap between the shots to eight weeks to maximize the number of people with at least one jab, but have ultimately decided to maintain the current system.
The decision in now pending on confirmation, later today, from the Inter-Territorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS), which brings together the country’s regional healthcare chiefs and the central Health Ministry.
Despite various supply disruptions, Spain still expects to have half its 47 million population fully vaccinated by late July.
According to official data Spain has fully vaccinated 7.2% of the population while almost 20% have received at least one dose.
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