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Spain to lift outdoor face mask rule on June 26th

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed on Friday that from Saturday June 26th wearing a face mask in outdoor public spaces will no longer be a requirement. 

Published: 18 June 2021 12:08 CEST
face masks spain
Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

It’s been in the pipeline for over a month now but now there’s finally an end date.

“This will be the last weekend we wear masks outdoors as from June 26th we won’t have to wear masks in outdoor public spaces anymore,” Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez announced on Friday morning during a speech held in Barcelona, indicating that the matter would be voted through by the cabinet on Thursday. 

“Our streets, our faces, will start to regain their normal appearance in the coming days,” Sánchez capped off rather poetically.

The Socialist leader had said earlier during this week that the outdoor face mask rule would “soon” end, but there were many who doubted Sánchez’s words as the country’s chief epidemiologist Fernando Simón said in mid-May this would happen “within a matter of very few days”.

It remains to be seen how the autonomous communities will react to the news, as some regional authorities such as Madrid’s have ruled out the possibility of easing face mask rules for the foreseeable future.

On Thursday June 17th, the government of the northern region of Cantabria also said it would listen to the experts but preferred to “not take any risks”. The disparity in opinions between regional authorities means some may be willing to appeal the cabinet’s decision next week in a bid to keep the outdoor face mask rule.

The news comes just days after France and Germany announced they were also easing their face mask rules. 

Face masks have been compulsory in public in Spain since May 21st 2020.

In March 2021, the Spanish government tightened the rules to require people to wear masks in almost all indoor and outdoor settings even if people kept to the safety distance, unless the activity is incompatible with mask wearing ie. eating, drinking, sunbathing, running etc

The backlash it caused after locals and tourists realised this would mean they would have to wear a mask while sunbathing or at the pool led Spanish authorities to tweak the legislation to allow some exceptions. 

Back in April, the EU called for mask wearing among vaccinated people to be reconsidered in Member States.

Spain’s national Health Ministry had said that in order for people to go mask-free outdoors, at least 50 percent immunity among its population must have first been achieved.

As things stand on Friday June 18th, 47 percent of Spain’s population have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The country’s current Covid-19 infection rate is also the lowest since August 2020. 

For indoor mask legislation to be reconsidered, Spanish authorities have said that the 70 percent immunity target has to be met first, which according to Sánchez will occur in late August.

To read all the latest coronavirus news from Spain, click here for The Local Spain’s Covid-19 section. 

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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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