The Conselleria de Salud will cancel the appointments for vaccination of under 60 years who received a first dose of AstraZeneca (essential workers) and will re-appoint them from June 2 to administer the second and to choose whether to receive another of the same vaccine or that of Pfizer.
The general director of Public Health and Participation, Maria Antònia Font, has said in a press conference that Health is preparing the system to provide the second appointment to this group of people and has predicted that “it will probably not be by means of the platform BitCita” but by another system that will be communicated in the coming days.
She has detailed that it can be expected from June 2 and that those with first access are the people who were have waited the longest since being administered the first dose, but it will come “to all those who are pending”.
Further news on the progress of the vaccination process, health officials have recalled that, at present, the Balearic Islands is vaccinating the population of 50 to 59 years, a large group that is now seeing the most hospitalizations of covid-19 related cases recorded in the islands.
Font has indicated that the calculations show that it is taking “about a month” to vaccinate each age range of 10 years, therefor, “it is most likely” that the vaccination of the group 40 to 49 will be reached in June, the following month those from 30 years and “to finished the summer the youngest group of under 20“.
Font explained that those under 60 who choose to receive a second dose of AstraZeneca, must sign a informed consent which will be available “in the computer system itself to make the second appointment” which is being prepared, and will be available at the same time to all those who remain to be vaccinated. Those who opt for Pfizer’s vaccination will be scheduled at a different point.
Everyone in this group will receive an SMS notification that the second appointment will be arranged. “Those with a previous appointment will have that appointment cancelled, as it is unknown whether they choose to continue with the same vaccine or another,” he said. “All will be descitarán by SMS and then give the indications of how to access the second dose,” she explained.
Font has warned those who choose not to get a second dose that “it is a dangerous not to do so” and insisted that “a second dose of AstraZeneca, or the Pfizer vaccine for those who have a problem is important”.
The spokesman for the Autonomous Committee for the Management of Infectious Diseases of the Balearic Islands, Javier Arranz, added that “either of the two vaccines will be a useful vaccine”.
“The question is to decide on one of the two. There is no reason to choose not to be vaccinated because it would result in lower defenses than if they chose, for example, Pfizer. I don’t think that third option is realistic. You have to be objective and opt for one of the two,” he concluded.