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COVID-19

Spain’s Valencia region puts brakes on lockdown easing after slight rise in infections

While Madrid and Catalonia request that their lockdown is eased, the region housing Valencia and Alicante has decided it shouldn’t enter Phase 2 of Spain’s “de-escalation” plan after infections rose slightly in the past week.

Spain’s Comunidad Valenciana has become the first region in the country to willingly decide it isn’t ready to enter the next phase of the country’s deconfinement plan. 

The eastern autonomous community of 4.9 million inhabitants had been given the green light to enter Phase 2 on Monday May 25th but regional authorities believe it is best for it to remain in Phase 1 for another week after a slight rise in infections from 0.66 to 0.85 percent.

The region’s health minister Ana Barceló told Spanish news agency Europa Press that although “the data is good” and the Valencian territory is “in a good state epidemiologically speaking”, the Valencian Generalitat government prefer to be cautious.

Under Phase 2 larger gatherings – from ten to 15 people – would be allowed to take place and large commercial centres would open for shoppers, although social distancing and hygiene measures would still be maintained.

Valencia’s reaction is in stark contrast to that of regional authorities such as Madrid’s, whose president Díaz Ayuso plans to hold Spain’s national government legally accountable for not allowing the capital to enter Phase 1.

Catalonia’s regional government also requested on Monday that Barcelona’s metropolitan area be allowed to enter Phase 1, which allows social gatherings of up to 10 people and other measures.

READ MORE: Lifting lockdown Phase 0.5 – What you can and can't do in Madrid and Barcelona

Valencian health Minister Barceló’s take has instead been one of considerable caution since the lockdown started to be eased, having said on May 8th: “People are taking it too easy. It isn’t my perception as a minister, I walk to work and I see how there are groups of people who are not respecting social distancing, that’s the perception of the citizens as well. We all see it. I concerns me.”

Valencia’s Ministry of Universal and Public Health has indicated that 19 new positive cases of the coronavirus have been registered in the past 24 hours in the Valencian Community, five deaths related to Covid-19 (none in care homes) and 165 new discharges from hospital.

These figures do not coincide according to Europa Press with those provided by the Ministry of Health, which has recorded 22 positive cases confirmed by PCR tests and two deaths in the last 24 hours, although the total number of confirmed positive cases in the Valencia region since the pandemic began is the same: 10,949. 

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COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

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People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

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