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COVID-19

REVEALED: True number of Spain’s coronavirus dead jumps by 18,000

Spain’s coronavirus death toll between March and May was amost 70 percent higher than the official count at the time, it has now emerged.

Published: 10 December 2020 15:00 CET
REVEALED: True number of Spain's coronavirus dead jumps by 18,000
Photo: AFP

More than 45,000 people died of Covid-19 in Spain between March and May, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said Thursday, giving a figure that exceeds the official toll by 18,000.

According to the INE, a total of 45,684 people died within that period, of which 32,652 were certified as having the virus, while another 13,032 died “of suspected (Covid), showing symptoms compatible with the illness”.

Figures released by the health ministry on June 1st put the total number of deaths from Covid-19 at 27,127 but the INE figure suggests a further 18,557 people died between March and May.

Adding the INE figures to the official number of deaths would push the total number of people who have died of the virus in Spain's outbreak to more than 65,500.

The INE figure reinforces the widespread suspicion that during the first wave of the pandemic, when hospitals and funeral homes were completely overwhelmed, many cases were not counted as part of the official coronavirus death toll.

Pablo Casado, leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party, accused the left-wing coalition government of hiding the real figures.

“Spain does not deserve a government that lies and hides Covid deaths. The INE confirms what we already knew and have been denouncing,” he tweeted.

 

“What difference would it make to give a figure that is a bit higher or lower when we're talking about 28,000 victims? Does it change anything?” wondered Fernando Simon, the health ministry's head of emergencies in an interview with El Pais newspaper in early July, referring to the death toll.   

Spain was particularly badly hit at the start of the pandemic and its death toll now stands at 47,019, the fourth-highest in Europe, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

Although the United Kingdom currently has the highest figure with more than 62,000 deaths, the new INE figures would push Spain into the lead.    

In terms of cases, the virus has so far infected more than 1.7 million people in Spain, placing it fourth within Europe after France, Italy and the United Kingdom.

Last week, Amnesty International released a report on retirement homes in which it said close to half of the Covid deaths in Spain were believed to be elderly people who died in homes.

It said an upcoming Spanish government report was expected to put the figure at between 47 and 50 percent of the overall death toll.    

The number of Covid deaths has also provoked political infighting in Spain, with the leftwing coalition government repeatedly attacked by its right-wing and far-right opponents for playing down the death toll.

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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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