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PEDRO SÁNCHEZ

Spain’s PM in quarantine after Macron tests positive

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will quarantine until December 24th after French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19, his office said in a statement on Thursday.

Published: 17 December 2020 11:57 CET
Spain's PM in quarantine after Macron tests positive
The two leaders met on Monday in Paris. Photo: AFP

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has suspended all public activities and will self-isolate until Christmas Eve

Sanchez cancelled all items on his agenda for the coming days, starting with his attendance at a ceremony on Thursday at which King Felipe is to open an exhibition.

The Socialist leader attended a number of events in Paris on Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), including a lunch with Macron.

Video footage of Macron welcoming the Spanish prime minister at the Elysee Palace showed both wore masks and did not shake hands.

Sanchez, whose wife contracted the virus at the start of the pandemic in March, will be tested for COVID-19.

In a statement the Elysée Palace said that the French president had tested positive for the virus after showing symptoms.

“The president tested positive for Covid-19 today (Thursday),” it said in a statement, adding he had been tested after the “onset of the first symptoms”.

Macron will now, in accordance with national regulations, “self isolate for seven days. He will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely,” it said.

The president, 42, had taken a PCR test and his office added that he had shown only mild symptoms.

READ MORE: French President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for Covid-19

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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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