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José Ignacio Medina suffered a heart attack a few years ago. He got over it and since then he takes great care of himself. He knows that he is a risk patient. That’s why he goes out for walks and plays sports frequently. He wants to be healthy. He also doesn’t miss his vaccine appointment. Today he was the first to receive the two doses against covid and flu at the Rekalde health center, one of the outpatient clinics where the vaccination campaign opened this morning in Euskadi.

«Since I had the heart problem I always get vaccinated and the truth is that I don’t get anything. “They are going great for me and I encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” says this resident of the Peñascal neighborhood of Bilbao. He wastes so much energy that he went to the consultation dressed in sports clothes and after the punctures he went for a good walk.

José Ignacio is one of the Basques who from today can begin to receive the two jabs against the flu and covid. They are two of the most common respiratory viruses, but also ones that can cause more serious complications. Hence the importance of receiving prophylaxis to generate antibodies and, if infected, pass the disease in a milder form.

How another 700,000 people over 60 years of age or belonging to risk groups – chronically ill, immunosuppressed or pregnant – can make an appointment to be administered the preparations. Parents of children between six months and five years old who belong to these risk groups can also do so.

María Isabel Peláez belongs to this group of most vulnerable people. «I am diabetic and I get vaccinated every year because it works well for me. When I get infected after Covid or the flu, I pass these diseases very gently,” she says with some relief. And when she sat down in nurse Borja Doncel’s office, she looked a little scared. «I thought the needles were big but the truth is that I haven’t even noticed. I haven’t noticed anything. “This guy is doing very well,” she said after receiving the two preparations, first an anti-Covid one adapted to the new variants of Omicron developed by Pfizer and then an anti-flu one.

Doncel explained that during these first days of the campaign he expects 200 people to pass through the Rekalde health center every day to receive these two vaccines. «We have started with those over 60 years of age and with risk groups, immunosuppressed or people who have some type of illness. As of October 30, the general population can now book an appointment to be vaccinated from November 6,” details this health worker, who encourages people to receive the serums “to prevent complications” of these two respiratory diseases.

One of the two main novelties this year is that children between 6 months and 5 years old have been included among the priority groups for the flu. 73,000 little Basques are called to get vaccinated. In previous years they were also vaccinated at the request of their parents – last year Osakidetza administered 4,896 flu doses to children – but from this year onwards a specific appeal is made to them, as recommended by the WHO. Children are the population group that is most infected with this disease, their immune system is not yet as developed as that of the older population and, in addition, they are an important vector of transmission of the virus.

The other great novelty of the vaccination campaign is that the age of the target population for the flu has been lowered from 65 to 60 years to equal that of the covid. In the case of the first of these two vaccines, it can currently also be received under that age. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, the current indication is that it be administered only to those over 60 years of age or in risk groups, although as autumn progresses and winter approaches, it may be expanded to a population of less than 60 years of age. age.

Another of those who did not want to wait any longer was Valetín del Bosque. At 81 years old, this enthusiastic resident of Rekalde has been one of the first to receive both vaccines. «I wear them every year. The other day I came in for a consultation and they told me about it, so I told my doctor to make an appointment for me. In my group of friends we all get vaccinated. “It works well for me because it helps me not get almost sick and I encourage everyone to do it too and not be afraid.”

2023-10-09 10:07:12
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