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Date Published: 22/02/2022
ARCHIVED - Andalucia to start giving fourth doses of Covid vaccine
People with weakened immune systems and at risk of complications in Andalucía will be administered with the fourth jab
The Andalucían Minister of Health, Jesús Aguirre, has given instructions to start inoculating the fourth dose of Covid vaccine to the immunocompromised population, specifically those who received their third dose five to six months ago.
In a statement on Tuesday February 22, the Ministry confirmed that the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) has already begun to administer the additional vaccine to over 12-year-olds in what is known as Group 7 – those with very high-risk conditions, mostly with weakened immune systems, such as organ transplant patients, chemotherapy patients and people with Downs Syndrome, provided they are over 40.
A total of 109,564 people will receive this fourth dose and will be contacted directly by their reference hospitals, or, in the case of people with Down's syndrome, through their health centres.
"These people have a lower protection against Covid than the general population, with a greater chance of suffering complications and more severe forms of the disease, so it is advisable to optimise their defences against the virus with this fourth dose of vaccine," explained the Andalusian Government.
Also read: Hospitalisations go back up after 2 weeks of decreases: Andalusia Covid update February 22
Back in January, the Public Health Commission, in which the autonomous communities and the Ministry of Health are represented, agreed that immunosuppressed people should receive a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine five months after the last jab.
And now that more than 17.8 million doses of vaccine have been administered in the region, attention has turned to providing additional protection to the most vulnerable.
"The sixth wave of the pandemic has definitely begun a downward path and we are nearing the definitive end of it, which will become evident when hospital admissions are at a minimum. However, we are still fighting the pandemic, it is not over yet," warned government spokesman, Elías Bendodo.
With regards to mask wearing, he added that "it has been proven to prevent contagion as was seen last year when the flu barely existed", and assured that "if the evolution of the sixth wave continues on a downward trajectory, it will make sense to relax the measures".
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However, as has been the case throughout the pandemic, any withdrawal of anti-Covid measures must first be approved by a committee of experts.
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