Vaccines for older groups

Your medical centre will call you when they are ready to give you the vaccination. The roll out is quite slow so far.

They have not gotten round to our cohort yet, but with politicians and their family and friends jumping the Q plus the problems surrounding the supply of the Pfizer and AZ vaccine in the EU its anyone's guess when we are likely to get vaccinated.

Hi Mary,

This information has been shared on the forum several times and is available on the Spanish government's Covid-19 website page.  Please see below the information I posted on 18 January:

Spain has begun a step-by-step vaccination scheme, placing elderly in care homes and those that work in them as first in line to get the injection. Frontline health workers are also included in the priority group.

The vaccination programme will then be rolled out across the rest of the population, divided into groups depending on risk assessment, which broadly falls into age range, existing conditions etc. (more on that later).

What will it cost?

Spain has pledged that the vaccine will be free to everyone, even those who don't have a health card.  “The vaccines and the vaccinations are free for all Spain’s population,” states the Spanish government on the webpage dedicated to FAQs on the vaccination programme.

Therefore we can expect everyone working or residing in Spain to be able to get the vaccine for free, even if they aren't registered in the Spanish state health system and no priority will be given to those with health insurance or wanting to pay for it privately – something which isn’t an option under the state vaccination programme.  However, this is unlikely to include tourists or second home owners.

Should I contact my Centro de Salud?

On Spain’s government website page dedicated to the vaccination programme, there is a very clear message urging people to be patient and wait to be contacted by their regional health authorities.

“The Health Service of each Autonomous Community will contact the people to be vaccinated, following the established order of prioritisation.  It is important not to contact the health system individually about COVID-19 vaccination until then,” states the message.

How will they know to contact me?

There is no mention yet of how people will be told that it is their turn to receive the vaccine. 

Make sure that your documents are up to date so that you are in the system and they know how to find you. That means ensuring you are on the padron at your latest address and that you are registered with your local medical centre.

Keep checking the health authorities announcements online in the region where you are living, as each regional government will be responsible for administering the programme in their community.

When it is your turn to get the vaccine, and we don’t know yet whether these will be given at local medical centres or specially dedicated vaccine centres, you should take all the identification possible to prove who you and where you live: passport, residency certificate, proof of address (padron or utility bills) and medical card if you have one.

When can I get it?

Spain has a three-stage immunization plan which began at the end of December when the first vaccination (Pfizer) was given approval by the EU. The Moderna vaccine has also now arrived in Spain. Each phase will last approximately three months.

At present, Spain is in the first phase of vaccination scheme, which prioritises elderly people living in residential care homes and those that work in them, then healthcare workers and those that work on the frontline of the battle against coronavirus.

This first phase is expected to last until at least the end of February, by which time 2.5m of Spain’s most vulnerable will have immunity.

The second phase will rolled out in Spring and the final phase will continue over the summer months, with a view to Spain's entire population being covered by September.

When announcing the plan in December, Spain's heath minister, Salvador Illa, explained “The groups cover the entire Spanish population. On this basis, it will be decided who will have priority in stage 2 and 3. It will be a flexible decision, which will be made by the technicians when we have more data on vaccines and their availability. The strategy is going to be updated ”.

The next priority group has not yet been announced.

Source: The Local

Kind regards,

Kim

Has been pointed out on this forum many times, your medical centre will contact you with an appointment when it is your turn, same the U.K.

Hallo Kim,

My problem would be that when doctor calls me  he probably will not speak english (or dutch) and untill now, being here only for a short while, am not able to underdstand him, telling me date and time, while me   talking poco espagnol... Do you have  any suggestions how to solve this vital language problem?

Kind Regards,

Ronald

Hi Ronald,

I'm afraid not - until we start to get feedback from other members who've been called for their vaccine, it's difficult to suggest anything.  I think it will depend on the procedure adopted.  For example, will it be managed by health centres?  Or individual surgeries?  Will doctors who don't have English speakers on their staff arrange for translators to make the calls?  Or perhaps it will be by email or text?  One thing is certain, there will be many others in the same position as yourself, so I hope appropriate arrangements will be made.

Kind regards,

Kim

It's very much in the interests of the government to make sure everyone gets the vaccine so I suspect if you get a Spanish speaker the first time, they'll get an English speaker on for you.

Just an update. As of tonight Spain has vaccinated 1,673,054 people.

Spain vaccination programme as of 17:00 on 02/02/2021:

Vaccine doses received: 1,769,055

Doses given: 1,673,054

Second doses: 418,514

Vaccinations yesterday: 63,794

Doses used as a percentage of doses received: 94.57% *

* Shortfall primarily the result of dose quantity in vials increasing from 5 to 6 and some regions not having the correct syringes to make use of the sixth dose.