Immunization of unvaccinated increases by 13% after the requirement of the covid passport in the hospitality industry
5,357 people have taken the first dose this week, compared to 4,749 who did it in the previous week - Experts ask the Consell for more measures to stop infections
400,000 people have not yet been vaccinated against covid in the Valencian Community. The new measure is aimed at them, which from next week will be an obligation in the Valencian Community, to present the covid passport to enter bars and restaurants. This new measure has not yet come into force and its effects seem to be beginning to permeate that bag of unvaccinated people. And it is that the number of people in the Valencian Community who have put the first dose is increasing since Puig announced the entry into force of the covid passport to access the hospitality industry. Thus, 5,347 people have been vaccinated for the first time this last week, compared to 4,749 the previous week, which represents an increase of 13%. In the first week of November, 4,696 were immunized.
The largest number of unvaccinated people is in the age group 30 to 39 years, where only 77% of the population has been immunized , which contrasts with almost 90% of immunized people over 12 years of age. Twenty-somethings follow, with 80% vaccinated. To try to protect everyone from the disease and thus achieve good herd immunity, Health has taken different actions, including moving mobile vaccination points to mass events and shopping centers. Precisely coinciding with Black Friday, today will be operating two of these devices in the Carrefour de Finestrat mall- from 16 to 20.30 hours- and Plaza Mar 2 in Alicante, from 10 to 20 hours .
The latest measure to try to increase vaccination has been to implement, starting next week, the obligation to present the covid passport to access bars, restaurants, pubs and discos.
And while the Consell entrusts itself to the covid passport almost as the only option to try to stop the sixth wave of the pandemic , experts in epidemiology and public health consulted by this newspaper believe that more measures will be needed to avoid and a significant increase in cases.
"It would be good to start putting measures to avoid crowds in closed spaces, return to the limit of capacity, if we want to have a more or less quiet Christmas ," says Juan Francisco Navarro, president of the Valencian Society of Preventive Medicine. Along with this average, make an active uptake of unvaccinated. In this sense, Navarro proposes to allocate current trackers to call people who have not been immunized to try to convince them based on personal interviews. This professional believes that in this way it would be possible to convince half of the 400,000 not vaccinated.
The president of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, has reiterated on several occasions that there will be no restrictions in the coming weeks beyond the covid passport . However, for the public health expert, José Tuells, it will be inevitable to resort to new limitations if the incidence of the virus continues to increase.
Strengthening the measures for the use of masks and ventilation indoors is essential, according to Félix Gutiérrez, professor at the UMH, for which he calls for the intensification of surveillance and collaboration efforts by business owners. "The covid passport can encourage the unvaccinated to be encouraged, but in the short term it is not an effective measure by itself."
For the epidemiologist José María López Lozano, implanting the covid passport only in hotel and leisure establishments with a capacity of 50 people is very limited . "It should be extended to more areas, because it is folly that people who have not wanted to vaccinate put the rest at risk ."
Barcala's support for the use of the covid certificate
The mayor of Alicante, Luis Barcala, has shown his support for the mandatory use of the covid passport to access bars, restaurants and entertainment venues. For Barcala, "whoever refuses to protect himself and others cannot have the same normality as those of us who comply with all the measures . " The mayor believes that this measure "is reasonable, together with distance and the use of a mask, because we must return to normal as soon as possible." Remember that neighboring countries are confined, which is why it calls "to be reasonable."
