Authorities to discuss whether to open up booster vaccine rollout to over 50s

A Covid booster vaccine may be administered to everyone over the age of 50. Spain’s Public Health Committee, including the government in Madrid and regional governments, is expected to discuss the decision on Thursday, as announced by the Spanish health minister, Carolina Darias, on Wednesday, in a press conference. 

The booster vaccination rollout is speeding up in Spain because of the holiday season and the recent increase in Covid cases. In the last two weeks, around 50,000 cases have been reported in Catalonia.

Currently, booster shots are given to those between 60 and 69, those 70 and over, immunocompromised people, care home residents, and anyone who received the Janssen vaccine.

In parallel, Wednesday marked another important date in Catalonia's Covid-19 vaccination campaign almost a year after it first began: children between the ages of 5 to 11 began to be inoculated against the virus that has been radically disrupting society since early 2020.

This means that another 565,000 of Catalonia's 7.7 million residents are now eligible for the vaccine, which will be administered in the form of pediatric Pfizer doses that are a third of the amount for people over 12.

Vaccine rollout in Catalonia

As of December 14, 2021, 6,123,191 residents have been given the first dose of the vaccine, 77.3% of the total population. Out of those, 5,344,924 have also been administered a second dose (67.6% of the total population). 6,004,735 residents are considered to be fully immunized (75.6%).

As of December 14, 2021, Catalonia has administered 1,166,278 booster shots to these groups.