Half of Spanish teenagers have received first vaccine dose as the official Covid death toll in Spain passes 83,000
The recent decrease in coronavirus incidence rates maintained its momentum according to the figures published by Spain’s Ministry of Health on Thursday evening, with a further 12,445 confirmed cases taking the total since the pandemic reached this country to just over 4.75 million (equivalent to approximately 10 per cent of the population).
The national 14-day incidence rate fell by another 17 points to 361 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, representing a decrease of around 49 per cent since the peak of the fifth wave of contagion was reached late in July, although it also worth remembering that on the same date last year the figure was far lower at 142.
With the 7-day rate remaining under half the 14-day figure at 143 there will most likely be further decreases over the next few days, but this 7-day rate fell only minimally in comparison with the day before.
Despite the improvement in the overall situation, Asturias remains the only one of Spain’s 17 regions where the rate is below the “extreme risk” threshold of 250 (at 187). The next lowest figures are reported in the Canaries (272) and the Comunidad Valenciana (295), while at the other end of the scale are Extremadura (474), the Balearics (467), La Rioja (447) and the Basque Country (445).
Just as the differences among the data for different regions are becoming narrower, so too are those among different age groups, although infection rates among young adults and teenagers remain the highest. The latest data show 14-day rates of 762 in teenagers and 665.5 in those aged between 20 and 29, while the groups below the extreme risk threshold are 70- to 79-year-olds (181), 60- to 69-year-olds (205) and 50- to 59-year-olds (241).
Hospital patients and fatalities
The figures published on Thursday show another slight improvement in the situation in Spain’s hospitals, the number of Covid patients admitted for treatment falling to 8,507 (or 7.26 per cent of all occupied beds). In intensive care units a similar slight improvement can be observed with the total down to 1,847, accounting for 20.1 per cent of available beds, although in Catalunya the proportion in ICUs is still alarmingly high at 41.55 per cent.
Unfortunately, another 121 Covid-related deaths have been confirmed (the same figure as in the previous daily update), raising the official Ministry toll since the pandemic reached Spain to 83,004.
Vaccination data
Following the administration of another 472,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday the number of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Spain has reached 30,565,129, equivalent to 64.4 per cent of the population.
35,269,276 people have received at least one vaccine dose, representing 74.3 per cent of the total population.
The last group to be included in the immunization consists of teenagers, and the proportion in this age group to have received their first vaccine dose has now reached 52.5 per cent. However, so soon after the invitation to vaccinate was extended to teenagers very few of them (just 10.6 per cent) have received their second doses.
In the 20-29 age group the equivalent proportions are 68.9 per cent with at least one dose and 38.7 per cent fully vaccinated.
A decision is expected from the Ministry of Health before the end of the month regarding the administration of “top-up” or “booster” jabs for those who received their first two vaccine doses earlier in the year.
Image: Archive
Source: Murcia Today
