Appointments can be made at citavacunacovid.ibsalut.es or by calling the Infovacuna telephone number (971 211 999).

People aged 60 and over (80 in Mallorca), those aged between 12 and 59 with risk conditions, pregnant women and healthcare workers caring for patients can be vaccinated.

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The Regional Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs is kicking off the combined vaccination campaign against the flu and the new variants of COVID-19 this Thursday, starting with people aged 60 and over (in the case of Eivissa, Formentera and Menorca, while in Mallorca it will be those aged 80 and over) and those between the ages of 12 and 59 who are at risk, as well as pregnant women. Health and social health workers who work in primary care, hospital care or homes for the elderly or the disabled will also be able to get vaccinated.

These groups can now make an appointment, preferably through the website citavacunacovid.ibsalut.es, where they will also find all the information about the campaign. In the case of people who, despite being one of the groups targeted by the campaign, are not included in the database of this service, they can check their situation by calling the Infovacuna telephone number (971 211 999), which will also be used to make appointments for those people who do not have the option of making an appointment digitally.

This was explained today by the Director General of Public Health and Participation, Maria Antònia Font, and the Director of the Balearic Islands Health Service, Eugènia Carandell, at a press conference during which they highlighted the individual and community benefits of vaccination against these two diseases.

The main objective is to achieve a high level of coverage in all at-risk groups, given that, especially in the elderly or those with chronic illnesses, both influenza and COVID-19 can decompensate their pathologies, cause them to be admitted to hospital or even lead to very serious complications and death.

Font reported that, as a new feature, in addition to the simultaneous administration of the two vaccines, the target population for influenza has been expanded from 65 to 60 years of age, and therefore it is estimated that the population to be vaccinated in the Balearic Islands will increase by 55,669 people, reaching a total of 457,473: 366,593 in Mallorca, 36,106 in Menorca and 54,774 in Ibiza and Formentera.

The director general explained that in order to carry out the campaign, the Conselleria de Salud y Consumo has acquired 304,800 doses of flu vaccine: 300,000 for the general population and 4,800 high-load doses, which are currently being administered to institutionalised people. As for the COVID-19 vaccine, boosted against variants B4 and B5, the Balearic Islands currently have more than 220,000 doses in stock.

With this volume of vaccines, the coverage target of 66% can be achieved. More specifically, the idea is to achieve coverage of 75% in older age groups (people aged 65 and over) and health and social-health groups, and 60% in the rest of the target groups.

The Director General of Public Health pointed out that the group that usually achieves the highest coverage is the group of people aged 75 and over. And she encouraged the 60-74 age group and pregnant women to take advantage of the benefits of protection offered by this free and universal benefit of the public health system.

Groups eligible for combined flu and COVID-19 vaccination

For his part, Carandell indicated that the combined vaccination begins with the group of people aged 60 and over in Eivissa, Formentera and Menorca, and 80 and over in Mallorca, as well as pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy. It also starts in the group of people aged 12-59 years with a risk condition (chronic cardiovascular disease, chronic neurological disease, chronic respiratory disease, diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity, chronic kidney disease and nephrotic syndrome, coagulation disorders, liver disease, immunosuppressive, transplant recipients, cancer or celiac disease, among others). This group – 12-59 year olds with risk conditions – will receive an SMS message informing them that they are included in the groups eligible for the two vaccines. People in this group who have not received the SMS can request an appointment from 23 October by calling Infovacuna (971 211 999).

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)