The Balearic minister of health, Patricia Gómez, has demanded that there are no further delays to the delivery of vaccines. At a Wednesday meeting of the Inter-Territorial Council of the National Health System, she told the national minister of health, Salvador Illa, that the latest delay is unacceptable. "We need doses to arrive every week and on time."
On Monday, 6,420 doses were scheduled to have been delivered. This consignment was postponed to Tuesday, then Wednesday. It is now due on Thursday.
Storm Filomena is the reason for the delay. The vaccine has to be transported by planes with the necessary storage characteristics, and none of the planes that have flown to the Balearics from Madrid-Barajas Airport so far this week have been equipped to carry the vaccine.
In anticipation of delays, the regional health ministry held back doses so that second jabs for care home residents could be guaranteed. These will start to be given on Sunday. There has been sufficient stock to begin vaccinating front-line health workers, and this began on Wednesday. Gómez says that "if everything goes well", all front-line health personnel will be vaccinated by next month.
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Not only are their vaccine roll out plans completely inadequate, but they can’t even deliver on that!! This will be an island catastrophe if they can’t up their game!
Unbelievably paltry amounts. Delivery of 6500 a week would take nearly 3 years for all residents to get ONE jab!. It needs to be more like 60 thousand a week to have a chance of saving the 2021 season. This is a hopelessly pathetic vaccination programme.