Health accelerates the vaccination of people between 50 and 59 years of age due to the increase in admissions to ICUs

This Sunday in particular, The General Hospital of Alicante will continue to vaccinate people always previously cited by SMS, and on Saturday the vaccination activity is also maintained both in this health department and in those of the Vila Joiosa Hospital, the Sant Joan Hospital and the General University Hospital of Elche. “Once the immunization of these people aged 50 to 59 years has been completed, Health will begin to summon those over 40 to also administer the extra dose,” they add.

The rate of vaccination of the Community in the third doses, for the last incorporated age group of 50 to 59 years, places it the fourth autonomy by the queue according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health. In this sense, from the conselleria they specify that these doses have been advanced in some health departments due to the particularities of the population, the profile of the patients and their geographical dispersion, as is the case of Elda, Orihuela and Sant Joan. “The rest will start with this age group from next week,” they specify from Health.

Doctors who work on foot of the ICU, in the critical units of the Alicante and Elche hospitals, coincide in pointing out that the current profile of the hospitalized for coronavirus focuses precisely on older than 55 years without third dose and with some previous pathology or underlying disease, such as obesity or severe breathing problems, although they have not yet perceived an increase in the volume of those affected. “The change introduced by the omicron variant on the majority profile in ICUs is, in short, the decrease in admissions, and more than half are men over 55 years of age and some degree of obesity,” says José María Núñez from the Hospital of Elche.

Impact

The professor and specialist in infectious diseases, Félix Gutiérrez, head of Internal Medicine in Elche, warns that what is expected is that the omicron variable will begin to predominate over the delta, but not so much at the hospital level. However, he emphasizes that “we must not think that omicron is harmless and not very serious, because underlying diseases can have consequences.” In recent days, an average of four people with pneumonia, among other conditions, are entering the plant. “We cannot trust that omicron is lighter and has no impact”he insists.

He agrees that half of those admitted are between 55 and 65 years old who, although vaccinated, lack the third dose and have some decompensation due to another disease. Those under 50 years of age at Hospital de Elche make up a small proportion of the income group, approximately 10%, and are both immunized and non-immunized.

The person in charge of infectious diseases at the Hospital de Sant Joan, Pachi Jover, also concentrates most of the admissions among those over 50 and the 60s, but considers that the proportion of those infected by the delta variant is still the majority. “Maybe in a few weeks we will see the change,” he values.

From the General ICU of Alicante, José Miguel Mataix adds foreign patients from countries with lower vaccination rates to the profile of those admitted, without losing sight of vaccinated with any previous pathology. The doctor deeply regrets that there are still unvaccinated people who, once admitted, excuse themselves stating that they were afraid that the dose would be wrong for them.

Precisely, to attract this population, Health has implanted the vaccine without an appointment, exclusively for these cases.