Catalonia surpasses five million first vaccine doses administered

Catalonia has administered first doses of Covid-19 vaccinations to more than five million people. 

In total, 5,019,611 residents have been given the first dose of the vaccine, 63.7% of the total population. Out of those, 3,970,899 have also been administered a second dose (50.6% of the total population). 

Meanwhile, 4,455,260 residents are considered to be fully immunized (56.6%). Under 65s who have already had the virus are only required to have the first dose, and others have received a single-dose jab. Therefore, the percentage of two doses administered and % fully immunized do not match.

The milestone comes as Catalonia continues to battle with the fifth wave of the pandemic that has seen a significant upturn in hospitalizations and patients requiring intensive care. 

There are currently 2,201 patients receiving medical care for Covid-19 in Catalonia, while 572 are in ICUs, according to the latest pandemic update provided by health authorities on July 30, 2021. 

These figures have been rising rapidly over the last month, when on June 30 it was reported that 458 coronavirus patients required medical care, and just 129 were in intensive care units. 

The Catalan health minister believes the peak of ICU occupancy during this wave could arrive next week and number around 700 patients. 

Over the last seven days, 188 people have lost their lives due to Covid-19. The week prior, 84 people passed away from the coronavirus. 

Meanwhile, other pandemic indicators such as the outbreak risk and transmission rate have continued to decrease over the past days. 

The outbreak risk now stands at 836, down from a high of 1,828 on July 9.

For this indicator, above 100 is considered ‘high’ risk and authorities consider anything above 200 as ‘very high’ risk. It is calculated using an iEPG index - found by multiplying the average spread of the virus over the past seven days by the cumulative incidence over the past two weeks. 

The transmission rate - the average number of times one coronavirus positive person will transmit the virus to another person - now stands at 0.81, down from a recent high of 3.39 on July 6.