Over 500,000 AstraZeneca doses arrive in Spain in race to beat off Delta COVID-19 variant with second injections

SPAIN was today(June 21) scheduled to receive a shipment of 511,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines as concerns grow over the possible spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

The new consignment means that the country will have received over eight million AstraZeneca doses since the end of last year.

Despite the national instruction from the Ministry of Health that there should be a 12 week gap between the first and second AstraZeneca jabs, some regions have reduced that period due to worries over the Delta variant.

Andalucia, Catalunya, Galicia and Madrid are looking to get the shots into the arms as soon as possible while regions like the Valencian Community are maintaining the 12 week guideline.

Valencia region residents in the 60 to 65 year category were sent notifications of a second AstraZeneca jab a fortnight ago ahead of the 12 week schedule, only for the appointments to be postponed a few days later.

Other countries like the UK have brought forward their second AstraZeneca injections, with two doses shown to have a 92% efficacy in providing protection against the Delta variant.

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