Oriol Güell

The country’s regions have an excess supply of five million shots, practically twice as many as two weeks ago

The Spanish Health Ministry reported 144 new Covid-19 fatalities on Wednesday, the highest figure since May

At the current pace – which has dropped by half – the Spanish government will not reach its goal of fully vaccinating 70% of the population until September

Experts warn getting infected with the coronavirus increases risk of pregnancy complications by 50%

But hospitals continue to face mounting pressure and the number of weekly Covid-19 deaths has nearly tripled in the past week

In the past 14 days, the number of weekly fatalities has grown from 32 to 98, while the incidence rate continues to rise

Measures are being implemented to target people who did not get vaccinated when it was their turn, amid warnings that up to 90% of the population will need to be immunized to reach group immunity

Speaking during a radio interview, Carolina Darias went further than the official position of regulatory agencies and scientists, also predicting the need for yearly boosters

Infections are still rising, according to the latest ministry report, although the rate is starting to slow according to the health minister

Asturias is the region that has immunized the highest proportion of its population, with the Canary and Balearic islands and Madrid at the bottom of the table

The Health Ministry has reported 61,628 new cases since Friday, adding 23 Covid-19 victims to the overall death toll

With vaccination rates at around 90% for healthcare staff and care home workers, the Health Ministry and the regions consider it unnecessary to follow in the footsteps of France and Greece

Eight regions, as well as the exclave cities of Ceuta and Melilla, have opened the vaccination drive to younger age groups in a bid to curb the rising number of infections

The director of the Health Ministry’s Coordination Center for Health Alerts says that the “progress of transmission is stable,” and will likely “hold steady in the coming weeks”

Around 1.5 million essential workers in Spain will be faced with this choice, after cases of rare blood clots were linked to the Anglo-Swedish medication. Experts respond to questions about the best course of action

A bioethics committee supports having 1.5 million essential workers switch to Pfizer, but opens the door to continuing with the same treatment after signing a consent form

While the number of contagions is expected to fall as the Covid-19 vaccination drive progresses, epidemiologists warn restrictions and face masks will still be needed to combat the pandemic

The government is opting to wait for a clinical trial on the risks for the under-60s of the medication, with options on the table such as administering a different vaccine or skipping dose two altogether

The first groups to receive this inoculation against Covid-19 will be the 50-59 age group and vulnerable collectives such as those with major disabilities

The immunization campaign is picking up speed and recently set a new daily record with over half a million inoculations

With fewer than 3,000 Covid-19 fatalities recorded for the first time in six months, health experts are cautiously optimistic about the impact of the vaccination drive

The decision over what to do with millions of doses of the one-shot vaccine has divided Spain’s regions. Madrid, Galicia and the Canary Islands, for example, are calling for the medication to be used on the under-60s

The incidence rate, however, continues to increase in Madrid and the Basque Country, which are currently two of the worst-affected regions in the country

Experts blame the variant for the rise of the fourth wave, but say it has not pushed the healthcare system to breaking point as happened in other countries

Experts say the country will not be able to reach the EU’s goal of testing 5% of all positive cases until the summer. The approach is key to creating better strategies to stop the spread of the virus

The incidence rate is falling at different speeds in each region, a situation experts say may be connected to the more contagious strain of the virus detected in the UK

The first case of local contagion of this more-infectious mutation has been found in Barcelona, after random testing was carried out on positive cases. Spain currently counts on very low capacity to carry out such genetic sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus