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COVID-19

Spain’s parliament approves six-month extension of state of emergency

The Spanish parliament on Thursday approved the extension for six months of a state of emergency declared to fight a surge in coronavirus infections.

Published: 29 October 2020 17:46 CET
Spain's parliament approves six-month extension of state of emergency
Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority leftist government on Sunday declared an initial 15-day state of emergency and the extension approved by lawmakers means it will now run until May 9th.

Under the state of emergency, Spain's 17 regional governments, which are in charge of health, can impose measures to restrict people's mobility, such as nighttime curfews and closing their borders.

The extension was approved with 194 votes in favour, 53 against and 99 abstentions, including by lawmakers from the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) which had called for the measured to be extended only until
December.   

“A broad horizon of security and stability has been granted to regional governments, who can adopt in coordination with the health ministry, the necessary measures to fight Covid-19,” the prime minister's office tweeted
after the vote.   

This is the second time that Spain has declared a national state of emergency since the start of the pandemic.

The first was put in place in mid-March and it lasted until the end of June. It was used to enforce a strict lockdown, with people allowed outside only to go to work, seek medical care or buy food.   

The government has said it wants to avoid another lockdown.   

Since exiting the first lockdown in June, coronavirus cases in Spain have soared, with thousands of infections diagnosed every day. Hospitalisations, though lower than their March-April peak, are also on the rise.

Spain last week became the first European Union nation to surpass one million confirmed Covid-19 infections, with the virus claiming more than 35,000 lives.

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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.

Published: 23 December 2022 10:53 CET
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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