Madrid:
Spain will start off immunising individuals against the coronavirus on December 27, a day soon after it receives the initially doses of a vaccine, Health Minister Salvador Illa mentioned on Friday.
The announcement comes a day soon after European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU would start inoculations against Covid-19 with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine amongst December 27 and 29, saying it was “Europe’s moment” in the battle against the virus.
The European Medicines Agency is anticipated to determine no matter whether or not to approve the Pfizer vaccine on December 21 — a week earlier than initially anticipated.
“This is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, not the end, so we must continue to keep our guard up,” Illa told a news conference.
Spain plans to vaccinate elderly residents and employees in nursing properties initially, then overall health workers and other vulnerable individuals such as the elderly and individuals with underlying overall health circumstances.
The government expects to have about 15-20 million individuals out of its population of 47 million vaccinated against the virus by June.
Spain has been one particular of Europe’s worst-hit nations, with the virus infecting more than 1.7 million individuals and causing more than 48,000 deaths.
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