Spain will begin to receive Covid-19 vaccines for children between 5 and 11 years old as of Monday 13 December. Vaccination is scheduled to begin on December 15 in most of Spain's autonomous regions, whose authorities are in charge of health systems and the implementation of measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the Spanish government, 3.3 million children between 5 and 11 years old live in Spain who could receive the pediatric vaccine. Depending on the region, the administration of the doses will be done in mass vaccination places (called vacunodromos), hospitals, medical centers and in three regions (Valencia, Extremadura and La Rioja) in schools.
At this time, children under 12 years of age are the age group with the highest cumulative incidence of infections.
The vaccination will not be compulsory: as it happened with other minors, the permission of the parents or guardians will have to be obtained and in many places it will be necessary to make an appointment to receive the first dose.
The plan of the Ministry of Health is to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to these children, but at a lower dose than to adults and adolescents. The second dose will be administered 8 weeks later.
The central government's Ministry of Health plans to inject 1.2 million doses in December and inoculate the second doses from February.
The initial idea of the Spanish authorities is to start vaccinating vulnerable children and those older than this age group, that is, 11 year-olds, and then gradually go down.
According to the newspaper El Pais, it is planned that the campaign will be developed in the following way in the different regions:
Andalusia
Child vaccination will begin on December 15 in health centers and mobile units that are now used to administer doses to unvaccinated adults. Only in rural areas will schools be used for the process, according to the regional government. School nurses will notify parents when it is their child's turn. Otherwise, parents will be able to request appointments starting next Monday.
Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria
The vaccination of children will be carried out in the primary care health centers of the three regions.
Basque Country
Child vaccination will be carried out in health centers and other vaccination points. Schools will not be used.
Canary Islands
In the Canary Islands, the health authorities will vaccinate children in the same mass vaccination sites that they have been using for adults and also in primary health care centers. It is not yet decided whether some schools will be used for this purpose.
Castilla y Leon
Castilla y Leon will use mass vaccination sites and primary health centers, for which appointments will have to be booked.
Catalonia
Catalonia plans to offer dates for all ages in this group at the same time and instead of starting with the older children, to speed up the process. Vaccines will be offered at the same vaccination sites as for adults.
Extremadura
Extremadura will vaccinate children in schools. It will start with the 9 to 11-year-olds, and then gradually go down, to finish the campaign with the youngest, 5-year-olds.
Galicia
The health authorities will summon the children to mass vaccination centers. Those who are considered at high risk, for example those who suffer from cancer, will be called first. Then, the rest of the age group will be called, from older to younger.
Madrid
Madrid will receive 204,000 doses of the Comirnaty vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) on Monday 13 December, and will begin administering them on 15 December.
The authorities of the capital region intend to start the process with the 11-year-olds, then gradually down to the youngest. It is planned to allow siblings to be vaccinated together, to avoid unnecessary travel.
Murcia
Murcia will use mass vaccination sites to vaccinate 5 to 11-year-olds. The process begins on 15 December with eleven-year-old children, who must be accompanied by their parents or guardians. In the next few days, parents will be able to request appointments through the health website of the autonomous region.
Navarre
In Navarre, pediatric vaccination will begin on 15 December. In Pamplona the process will be centralized, as in the hospitals of Tudela (Reina Sofia) and Estella (Garcia Orcoyen). In rural areas it is planned to use schools.
La Rioja
In La Rioja, vaccination will be carried out mainly in schools. Parents will receive a letter to sign to authorize the inoculations.
Valencian Community
Vaccinations are expected to be administered in schools, during academic school hours. Children from special education schools will be inoculated first, along with immunosuppressed children. Then, the minors will be vaccinated by age, from oldest to youngest.
