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VACCINE

More than half of Spaniards unwilling to take Covid-19 vaccine immediately

More than half of Spaniards will not be willing to get COVID-19 vaccination as soon as they are available, according to the results of a new survey, reports Reuters.

More than half of Spaniards unwilling to take Covid-19 vaccine immediately
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This comes as the Spanish government announced a target of 15-20 million vaccinations, around a third of the population, by mid-2021.

There are now a few different vaccines which have been proved successful against Covid-19 during testing, but one of the biggest hurdles for governments will be to convince enough of their citizens to get one, so that herd immunity can take place.

Even in Spain, where vaccination rates are typically high, this may prove to be difficult, as shown by the official survey by the Centre for Sociological Studies (CIS).

The results showed that just a third of the population would be ready to take the Covid-19 vaccine immediately, while 55.2 percent of them would want to wait and see what the potential side effects could be fist. The poll was carried out between November 23 and 26 on 2,130 people.

However, out of the 55.2 percent of people who would rather wait, almost 60 percent said that they would change their mind if their doctor recommended them to take it because they were at risk or were putting their family members at risk.

Only 8.4 percent of Spaniards would refuse to take any sort of vaccine.

Last week the Spanish government unveiled its vaccination plan for when the vaccines are approved. Health Minister Salvador Illa has said that the Covid-19 vaccine will be free and voluntary.

The plan is to start vaccinating in nursing homes first from January.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said that he expects to have between 15 and 20 million people to be vaccinated by May or June 2021. This would be just under half of the population, as Spain has 47 million inhabitants.

In a previous CIS survey, carried out between November 3 and 12, 36.8 percent said they would take the vaccine shot immediately, while 47.8 percent said they would not, however the question in that survey did not include the option of waiting for the effects to be known first.

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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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