The Andalusian Health Service (SAS), dependent on the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia, announced this Monday that it was already in 22,321 minors from six months to 4 years and eleven months those who have been vaccinated against the flu virus during the first week since the start of the campaign, which equates to coverage of 8.5% of the target population.
The campaign will continue until the end of March. In the case of schools – one of the new features this year – 16,742 children in first and second grades were vaccinated. intranasal vaccine, which means that there are no punctures and which is also new for the 2024/2025 campaign. These figures represent a school coverage of 13.1% of the target population.
These are the figures provided by the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs to Europa Press. The Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Government of Andalusia, Rocío Hernández, asked for the collaboration of families to vaccinate 60% of children up to 4 years old against the flu. “thus also avoiding infections” among teachers and the elderly who usually takes care of the little ones. In total, the ministry estimates that it will administer this vaccine, for the first time administered intranasally from the age of 2, to 176,000 children.
This was stated by Hernández in statements to the media on the occasion of the start of the flu vaccination campaign for children up to 4 years old. By province, In Almería, it is planned to vaccinate 20,050 children; 19,200 in Cádiz; 19,350 in Cordoba; 20,500 in Granada; 9,100 in Huelva; 15,850 in Jaén; 30,250 in Malaga and 41,700 in Seville.
The fact that for the first time children of this age can be vaccinated in schools is possible thanks to the implementation of the intranasal vaccine, recommended specifically for children over two years old and from whom they have acquired 135,000 doses, as well as collaboration with the Department of Educational Development and Professional Training and the involvement of school nurses, who will lead this process.
Nevertheless, parents must give express consent so that their children can be vaccinated in educational centers, for which they received information and a consent template via the Ipasen platform. In health centers, children aged 6 to 24 months will receive the intramuscular vaccine and those aged 24 to 59 months will receive the intranasal formula.
During the last campaign, A total of 132,983 children in Andalusia were vaccinated against influenza (45.8% of the target population), of which 80,699 were between 24 and 59 months, the coverage obtained in this age group was therefore 41.5%. “We want to increase this coverage to 60%, which is why we are making it easier for parents who want it to be vaccinated in schools, which has proven to be an effective strategy in other countries and makes it easier for parents to do so. vaccinate their children”, underlined the head of Health and Consumer Affairs.
