The Catalan pharmacy will collaborate with Salut to vaccinate people over 60 years of age.

This Monday, flu and Covid vaccinations will begin in Catalonia with the news that this year the autonomous community’s pharmaceutical profession will collaborate directly to help expand coverage of people over 60 years of age. The goal is to take advantage of the offices’ accessibility and proximity so that “they become key public health agents in helping promote vaccination among this at-risk population.”

Support for community pharmacies will begin on October 28, and from now on, when a person over 60 goes to the pharmacy to get their medicine, the pharmacist will ask them if they have had a dual vaccination. On the one hand, raise awareness of the importance of vaccination against influenza and Covid-19, especially at a time when respiratory infections can put a strain on the healthcare system; and, on the other hand, to facilitate access to information and referral to vaccination services.

“Catalan pharmaceutical staff have been collaborating with the Catalan Health System for many years to introduce local pharmaceutical care into the public health system. In this sense, the active participation of the pharmacy in the vaccination campaign against influenza and Covid-19 is another example of our call to service and commitment to public health,” said Jordi Casas, president of the Council of Pharmacy Colleges of Catalonia. Sanchez.

“The primary purpose of vaccination is to protect people at risk of complications associated with influenza and COVID. We must get vaccinated because we reduce the risk of infection and thus care for and protect our environment, especially the most vulnerable people,” emphasized Health Minister Esteve Fernandez at a press conference held at the Ministry of Health to announce the start of the vaccination campaign.

In the same round, the secretary was also accompanied by the President of the Council of Pharmaceutical Colleges of Catalonia, Jordi Casas, the nurse and deputy director of the CAP Vila de Gracia in Barcelona, ​​Silvia Fariñas, the head of the Preventive Medicine Service of the Ministry of Health, Montse Martinez, and the head of the territorial action of medicines of the Catalan Health Service, Anna Coma.

The first phase of vaccinations began on September 23, targeting people living in residential buildings, people aged 80 and over and pregnant women. This first phase also prioritizes vaccinating those people who receive home care. In the 2023/24 season, vaccination coverage of the population living in residential buildings was 83.5% for influenza and 79.4% for COVID.

From 14 October, vaccinations begin for the rest of the people included in the recommendations, such as people aged 60 years and over, people with risk conditions (including chronic health problems and obesity), people with immunosuppression or health and social care workers. and other essential and critical services. And this year, like last season, flu vaccination is recommended for children from 6 to 59 months and smokers.

Following WHO recommendations, quadrivalent and trivalent vaccines are available for vaccination of citizens against influenza for children aged 24 to 59 months. As for COVID-19 vaccines, they will be monovalent, tailored primarily to combat the JN.1 variant.

For this vaccination campaign, a total of 1,768,000 doses of influenza vaccine were purchased, which is 53,000 additional doses compared to the 2023-2024 vaccination campaign (1,715,000) and 163,200 more doses in the 2022-2023 campaign (1,604,800 ).