Kovid-19 – Heavily vaccinated, Spain escapes by new wave

With the highest vaccination rate among major European countries, Spain has escaped the resumption of pollution on the continent. However, this is not an immune response to the infection, experts warn. The country, which was injured by the first wave in the spring of 2020, has the lowest infection rate in Europe with 63 cases per 100,000 residents in the last 14 days.

The rate is more than double in Italy, six times higher in Germany – the country that set a new record of more than 50,000 cases in 24 hours on Thursday – and 12 times higher in Britain, according to official figures founded by AFP.

Nearly 80% of residents were vaccinated

Welcoming the “positive” situation in parliament on Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sంచnchez said that “there must be more than one reason to be satisfied with what is happening in the surrounding countries.” In Spain, the population is much less reluctant to be vaccinated than in other parts of Europe, with 79% of residents in Great Britain and Germany fully vaccinated 67%.

And almost all those over the age of 70 (99%) are more likely than France or Italy, thanks to the vaccine campaign that strictly followed the age pyramid. “This priority initially led to a slowdown, but eventually led to better results in the long run,” AFP Inaki Komas, a researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine of Valencia, explained.

“Culture Juice”

The mild weather, still allowing Spaniards to see each other outside or eat on the terrace, also played a role. And if there have been no restrictions on the number of people allowed to meet in the past month and night life has resumed, masks inside are mandatory.

But experts warn against the resumption of contamination due to the onset of cold and bad weather, the protection provided by vaccines will be reduced over time and the risks represented by the new variants. “These three factors are the right culture medium for the coronavirus,” explains Inaki Comas, according to which Spain is “entering a critical phase”.

“We know how the virus spreads. When it gets cold and dark at night, we go inside and the virus spreads, ”said Caesar Carballo, an emergency physician at Raman y Kajal Hospital in Madrid.

The country is on the right track

And, despite the country having the highest vaccination rates in Europe, epidemiologists refuse to talk about herd immunity because it cannot be achieved with single vaccines that do not suppress infections. “Spain is on the right track, but that doesn’t mean we’re in a position to go back,” stressed Salvador Massip, a professor of health sciences at the Open University of Catalonia and author of “The”. Great modern infections “.

According to the Seattle-based Institute for Health Data and Assessments (IHME) (Northeastern United States), Spain is projected to increase its number of cases from mid-November, hitting the sky in December before reaching its peak at the end of the year. But “despite the high rates of infection,” Comas assured Ina, “if people are vaccinated, they could become seriously ill.”

AFP

Posted today at 00h55

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