Kirsty Mckenzie
Care home residents in Aragon can now ditch their masks if they are fully vaccinated.
It comes as care homes in the northeastern part of Spain allowed loved ones to visit residents for the first time since the pandemic began.
The Aragon government has permitted all elderly residents who have received both jabs to stop wearing masks inside their homes.
The Minister of Social Rights, María Victoria Broto, confirmed the measures during a visit to the Borja Residence.
The move, announced yesterday, has now come into effect.
Broto said the government brought about the change because a fall in COVID cases meant it was now ‘much safer’ for care home residents to stop wearing protective face coverings.
Thanks to the vaccine, only five care home residents are infected with COVID-19 in the whole of Aragon and none of them required hospitalisation.
Those who work in the centers, as well as any vistitors will still be required to wear masks.
It comes as Spain’s Health Minister confirmed yesterday (Wednesday 23) that over 80% of people over the age of 40 had received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (CISNS), Carolina Darias said: “Some 81% of the Spanish population over 40 years old has already received a dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 and 47% have the complete vaccination schedule.
She added that the vaccination rollout had been ‘unstoppable’ and called the vaccination figures ‘spectacular’.
It was also confirmed that Spain has been the first country in the European Union to vaccinate all residents over the age of 80.
“For the third consecutive week we have exceeded 3.3 million administered doses,” said the minister.
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