Sánchez announces the start of mass vaccination of those under 50 years of age in June

With one in five people between 50 and 59 years old with at least a first dose of the covid vaccine, the Government is already looking to the next age group.

They will be those from 40 to 49, who will begin to be vaccinated en masse in June.

This was announced this Monday by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who has referred, in a generic way, to those under 50 at the inauguration of the IV Ibero-American Congress of the Alianza por Iberoamérica Business Council.

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"Today [Monday] we are going to exceed seven million people with a complete guideline and 15 million with at least one dose, so once the vast majority of citizens aged 70 to 79 have the complete guideline this May In June, it will be the beginning of mass vaccination of those under 50 years of age ”, he detailed.

Most of the autonomous communities had already announced that they would start with this group in that month.

Even some, such as Castilla-La Mancha, say that before the beginning of July they will be injecting the first doses to those between 30 and 39 years old, despite the fact that it is an age group that is not yet incorporated into the vaccination plan.

In these weeks of May, the guideline for septuagenarians will be completed, of which more than half are already fully immunized. At the same time, progress will be made among those in their sixties, who are receiving the first doses of AstraZeneca, whose second puncture comes between 12 and 16 weeks later. To a much lesser extent, some of Janssen's have also gone to this group, requiring only one injection.

And, as for the mechanism to advance at a good pace, age groups have to overlap, as the previous ones end, in the preceding weeks they also began to puncture those between 50 and 59. Pfizer medicines are destined for them , Modern and Janssen. Of the latter, 410,400 doses have arrived at the moment. The pharmaceutical company had committed to Spain a delivery of 5.5 million in this quarter, but neither the Government nor the company reveal when or at what rate they will arrive. This will be decisive to establish the speed of immunization of the group of those of more than 50 years.

For the next one, those between 40 and 49, at the moment there are only authorized messenger RNA vaccines: Moderna and Pfizer.

Spain is supporting its strategy in the latter, the one that has sent the most roads by far.

The country is counting in May with 1.7 million weekly doses, a figure that will rise to 2.7 million in June, which will allow the president's promise to begin vaccination of this group to be fulfilled.

Sánchez has also announced that Spain will start using the digital green certificate (popularly known as a covid passport) before July.

It was provided by the Ministry of Health.

The document will serve, in principle, so that immunized tourists can visit the country without the need to quarantine or undergo diagnostic tests.