Mason announces flu vaccination campaign in preschool and special education centers
The President of the Generalitat, Carlos Masón, announced that “next year we are going to launch a school vaccination campaign against influenza, which will be carried out in preschool education centres and special education students in the Valencian Community.”
The head of the Council explained that the initiative, which plans to immunize about 72,000 students, “will facilitate intranasal vaccination without the need to travel to health centers, thereby promoting family reconciliation.”
Carlos Mason noted that the Council “continues to comply with the requirements and advance in the field of primary health care to guarantee the public and quality health care that citizens deserve.”
Specifically, the target group of this vaccination campaign are minors born in 2020 and 2021, studying in preschools in public and subsidized centers of the Valencian Community, as well as all students in special education centers, where minors and young people under the age of 22 are present. From these groups of students, those whose families express their desire to participate in the campaign will receive the vaccine.
The head of the Consell explained that the aim of this campaign is “to make it easier for families to protect minors from the flu and stop infections among them, as well as to prevent the transmission of the virus to vulnerable people, such as the elderly or those with any underlying pathology, who are at greater risk of complications.”
This campaign, which will begin on October 1, is the first school vaccination campaign against influenza launched by the Generalitat and coordinated by the Ministries of Education and Health. Thus, health teams will schedule vaccination days in their facilities with educational centers, which will be held as part of the 2024-2025 influenza vaccination campaign.
It should be noted that before the implementation of this strategy, last season, the Elda Health Department carried out a pilot experiment of influenza vaccination in the study centers of this faculty, which was successfully completed, leading to its expansion to all the health departments of the Valencian Community.
Intranasal vaccine
The vaccine that will be administered to preschool children is administered intranasally and only to students who have no contraindications to this type of vaccine. It is administered as a small dose in each nostril and is a trivalent vaccine. Similarly, in special educational centers, the administration of the intramuscular vaccine and simultaneous immunization with the Covid-19 vaccine will be considered in certain cases.
It is worth recalling that the Generalitat included for the first time an intranasal vaccine, indicated for children aged 2 to 4, in the last campaign against influenza, which began in October 2023. This vaccine prevents the vaccination of the youngest children, since it comes in the form of a nasal spray, and among its advantages is that it neutralizes the virus at the point of entry – the nasal mucosa.
The Importance of Vaccinating Minors
At the epidemiological level, vaccination of the child population is very important for several reasons. On the one hand, every year the flu is most often contracted and falls ill mainly in children under 5 years of age. In addition, it does not always proceed in a mild form and in some cases requires hospitalization.
On the other hand, children can transmit flu to others, who may become seriously ill with the risk of serious complications. Therefore, protecting minors from flu prevents the elderly and other vulnerable groups from becoming infected and helps stop the transmission of the virus.
During the previous campaign, the Valencian Community had already introduced childhood influenza vaccination for boys and girls aged 6 to 59 months, a recommendation that has also been included by the Public Health Commission for the 2024-2025 season.