After the green light from the Spanish Bioethics Committee, citizens under 60 years of age who have received the first dose of AstraZeneca can decide. In the case that it is AstraZeneca, they must sign an informed consent document.
The Ministry of Health and the autonomous communities made the decision to administer after knowing the results of the clinical trial
This final decision was made within the framework of the Public Health Commission, but in a close vote. The position of the Ministry of Health to manage Pfizer ended up winning, but with the vote against several autonomies, which defend maintaining the pattern with AstraZeneca. Given this polarization, the option of receiving the Oxford serum voluntarily was decided. A possibility that, moreover, has already been endorsed by the Bioethics Committee.
Thus, the group that will be able to decide which vaccine to get are people under 60 years of age who received a first dose of AstraZeneca more than 12 weeks ago. It is a group of almost two million people that is made up mostly of essential professionals, such as police or civil guards, and primary and secondary teachers.
These citizens will be able to decide which vaccine they want throughout the Spanish territory. However, depending on the autonomous community in which they live, they will be recommended to take one dose or another. Thus, it should be noted that the official decision is to manage Pfizer, however, there are a number of communities that are committed to maintaining AstraZeneca.
Which autonomous communities defend managing AstraZeneca
In addition to voting against completing the vaccination with Pfizer, the following autonomous communities have committed to completing the guideline with AstraZeneca.
– Madrid: the Minister of Health, Enrique Ruiz Escudero reiterated on Thursday that the position of autonomy remains the same, vaccinating with a second dose of AstraZeneca as regulated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the technical sheet. In addition, he has criticized that the delay of the Ministry of Health on this decision has caused 14,000 people who should have already been summoned for the second dose of AstraZeneca
– Galicia: the Galician health service will propose that the most correct thing is to continue with the second dose of AstraZeneca, and this is what Galicians will be advised, as explained by the president of the Xunta, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, after the meeting of the Council. There are almost 90,000 Galicians who are in this situation.
– Andalusia: the Junta de Andalucía will begin to vaccinate against the coronavirus with the second dose of AstraZeneca to those Andalusians under 60 years of age on a voluntary basis. Andalusia will voluntarily vaccinate people under 60 years of age with the second dose of AstraZeneca In this way, the 259,071 Andalusians pending a second dose of AstraZeneca will be able to receive their vaccination with this preparation with informed consent. This vaccination will begin to be provided from next week.
– Castilla y León: the official position of the region’s health authorities is to recommend completing the vaccination regimen started with AstraZeneca with the same vaccine.
– Catalonia: the ‘councillor’ of Health, Alba Vergés, has reiterated that Catalonia is in favor of closing the cycle and giving the second dose with the Oxford vaccine.
– Basque Country: it was one of the communities that voted against administering Pfizer as a second dose of AstraZeneca. However, he has not made a final decision on what he will recommend to the public. For now, the head of the Basque Government’s Surveillance and Vaccine Service, José María Arteagoitia, has affirmed that the decision to allow those under 60 years of age vaccinated with a first dose of AstraZeneca to choose whether to receive this same drug or that of Pfizer as a second dose it does not seem “the most correct”, since “it will complicate the vaccination program a lot”.
– Cantabria: the health authorities of the region were in favor of playing Pfizer, but also offering AstraZeneca voluntarily. In this sense, the regional president, Miguel Ángel Revilla, has opined this Friday that “the correct thing, the normal thing is to get vaccinated again with the same” formula. However, he has pointed out that it will be necessary to do “what the experts say”, if they assure that taking a different drug is “just as effective”.
Facebook Comments
Disqus