As announced yesterday by the Balearic Minister of Health, Patricia Gomez, the Balearic Ministry of Health will begin to open appointments for children under the age of nine vaccinations. “They will be incorporated,” she stated when asked when new age groups would be added. Furthermore, the Minister stated that increasing the number of children immunized is required in order for additional supplies of pediatric vaccines to reach the islands. Similarly, she stated that if more equipment and immunization lines are added, the provision of supplementary doses will be expanded.
Javier Arranz, spokesman for the Management Committee of Infectious Diseases of the Balearic Islands, stated yesterday that they do not intend to conduct population screening to find asymptomatic patients, like they did in January. “They’re running so many tests it’s almost like a mass screening,” explained the specialist, who also emphasized the usefulness of the extra vaccination dose.
This, he claims, is supported by the “stability” of current incidences in age groups with a higher percentage of the population receiving this third dose, namely those over 60 and especially those over 70. “And in recent days, we’ve noticed a shift in trend among individuals over 50 who have received the booster dose,” he added.
The consellera announced that “additional points for testing” of covid will be launched in the next days and advised those who experience symptoms not to go to the emergency services. “The 061 is a really effective instrument,” he explained. Meanwhile, Arranz stated that in the case of positive antigen self-testing, a PCR is usually performed not to confirm the infection, which is assumed, but to determine whether it is the variant omicron.
Gomez stated that Health does not consider these tests to be free, and the committee spokesman does not feel that a negative result in such testing implies a relaxation of infection-prevention measures. “I guess the people who are tested are concerned about not infecting the family,” he concluded.