Covid: vaccinations home and away. Summer travel complicates immunisation drive

SPAIN is studying the possibility of offering jabs to residents as they travel to other parts of the country for holidays.

With summer fast approaching, thousands of people will leave home for a break in another of the country’s 17 autonomous regions – however, travellers are concerned about ensuring they get their Covid-19 jabs.

The health ministry said the Spain’s strategy was based on people being vaccinated where they “are currently residing” – where they are registered on the local ‘padrón’, the town hall’s list of residents, and have their local doctor’s surgery.

There are senior health officials and regional authorities that believe it is more important to get jabs in arms. The health department said it should be possible ‘in exceptional cases’ but has not spelled out how this would be possible.

Valencia – which includes the popular holiday destination of the Costa Blanca – is one of the regions planning to allow such a move; others have ruled it out.

The regional health Ana Barceló said visitors from other regions were already receiving a second dose in Valencia after applying for a temporary local health card – an option regularly taken up by Spanish summer tourists.

She called on the government to allow this to be available to Valencia residents travelling to other parts of the country and to make sure the region was ‘compensated’ in the number of vaccines it received.