The flu vaccine is extended this autumn, for the first time in all of Spain, to healthy children between 6 months and 5 yearswhich is an innovation, since previously the infant population with underlying pathology was vaccinated exclusively.
All the communities and autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla have already acquired the doses for this year’s flu vaccination, which will benefit 1.6 million childreneither the intranasal vaccine for those between 2 and 5 years old or the intramuscular one for the smallest (6 to 23 months), explains to EFE the member of the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (CAV-AEV) Javier Alvarez.
Last year, flu vaccination in this cohort of the child population was carried out only in three autonomous communities: Andalusia, Galicia and Murciawith “magnificent” results and coverage of 50%, says this expert, who aspires to achieve coverage in Spain of 55 to 60% on average.
Although these coverages seem modest, they are very important since significant impacts are achieved “and the virus stops circulating or does so in less quantityso not only those vaccinated but also the people around them benefit,” says this expert.
Álvarez specifies that the administration of this vaccine to healthy children is done “to protect those vaccinated, but also because they are the main transmitters of the flu mainly in schools and nurseriesand spread the virus to the people they live with.