The Minister of Health, Salvador Illa, has said that the first vaccines against covid-19, the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, could arrive in Spain around “January 4 or 5”, after being approved by the European Agency for Medication (EMA) on December 29 “at the latest.”
During his speech at an ‘online’ breakfast at the New Economy Forum, Illa said that ” not all of them will arrive together on the 4th or 5th of January “, but” they will gradually arrive in batches as they are manufactured. ”
The minister has said that the “calendar” will depend on “the final approval” by the EMA. “I believe that on December 29 the first authorisation will most likely take place, which will then allow us to start vaccinating at the beginning of January,” stating that the EMA will hold an extraordinary meeting on December 29 to discuss and hopefully approve the Pfizer vaccine, and then again on January 12 for the Moderna vaccine.
The minister explained that some 140 million doses are earmarked for Spain following the agreements signed by the European Commission with pharmaceutical companies, which will allow us to vaccinate 70 million people. “There will be plenty of vaccines,” he confirmed, adding that any extra will be sent to other countries.
Illa spoke about the “progressive nature” of the vaccination process. “If everything goes according to plan, in May or June we could have 15 or 20 million Spaniards vaccinated. And by the end of summer a very substantial figure that will put us in a very different state of virus control.”
