Edition 192
www.thecourier.es
Friday, October 24, 2014
GETTING THE NEEDLE FREE FLU JABS ON OFFER
By ALEX TRELINSKI The Costa Blanca area has seen the launch of the annual Valencia Government flu vaccination campaign with the Minister of Health, Manuel Llombart, asking people who may be vulnerable to the virus, to take advantage of the jabs. The Murcia region launched their push last week with a quarter of a million doses available in the area as of last Monday. Injections are available free of charge to people in vulnerable groups like those aged over 65; pregnant women; those who work in the health sector; and those who are seriously ill. 800 thousand vaccine doses have been made available in the Valencia region at cost of 2.6 million euros, with 300 thousand injections allocated to Alicante Province. Last year there was concern over the spread of the Type A virus, which took some lives in both the Valencia and Murcia areas, with the local administrations pleading with people to take advan-
tage of the free jabs. Like last year, the Valencian Health Minister, Manuel Llombart has called on anybody in a “risk group” to be vaccinated against flu to prevent any serious problems, adding
that anybody aged over 65 who had a jab, stood an 80 per cent better chance of beating flu and avoiding a hospital visit as opposed to somebody who did not bother. Despite last year’s warnings, with just under 48 thousand logged cases of flu in the Valencian region, only around 50 per cent of elderly people in both the Murcia and Valencia regions went for an anti-flu injection, and only around 20 per cent of health workers got inoculated. Murcia’s Public Health Manager, Francisco Garcia, echoed calls from Valencia for a larger take up of vaccines with a hope that at least 65 per cent of the vulnerable mid-sixties and over population will be jabbed. A new innovation in both regions for this year is the introduction of flu jabs for people who are allergic to eggs and antibiotics, which will be available in health centres across the area.
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