THE WEATHER
See page 2 for the week´s forecast
Edition 345
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Friday 27th October 2017
DROUGHT EFFECTS BITE
ater rationing for local farmers may become a reality in the New Year in order to protect domestic supplies, as the drought across Alicante Province and the Murcia region continues to bite. The warning comes from the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment, Isabel Garcia Tejerina (pictured), who this week said that restrictions on irrigation farming would have to be introduced if there are no substantial rises in rainfall over the next two months. The minister said that the measures may have to be introduced to make sure domestic users were not hit, but did not expand on whether any rationing would
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be nationwide or in badly-hit areas like southern and eastern Spain. The capacity at the local Segura basin reservoirs is down to just over 13%, compared to the October 2016 figure of 22%, which in itself was way down on the average of almost 39% over the last 10 years. In August, Garcia Tejerina’s department announced emergency plans to increase production at the desalination plants in San Pedro del Pinatar and Torrevieja at a cost of over two million euro to keep supplies going across the Valencia and Murcia regions, as well as expanding the VistabellaTorrealta-Murcia hydropower system.
VITAL VACCINATIONS
orrevieja’s health department has started their annual flu-jab campaign, as part of the regular national initiative, with 28 thousand vaccines administered in the Torrevieja area last winter. The campaign will run until the end of January, with the normal ratio of vaccinations seeing over two-thirds of the jabs going to people aged over 64. Vaccination points are available now in all health centres and clinics, with the department’s head of preventative medicine, José Tuells, saying that it is important that vaccinations be repeated every year,
since the strength of dose varies annually. “Just because people are immune to any flu strains in 2016, it doesn’t mean the same applies to anything right now, and that’s why vaccinations have to take place every year,” Tuells added. Those who do not fall into the 'high risk' category do not normally get a vaccination free of charge on the health service, but the jab can be bought over the counter at a pharmacy and either self-administered or given by a nurse at a local health centre by appointment.
Health authorities stress that the flu vaccination is effective, has no side-effects and for the sake of one short appointment at the patient's
local GP clinic, can save lives and prevent a great deal of unnecessary work and cost for medical services.