Coronavirus vaccinations will begin on Sunday in the Balearics and residents and Healthcare Workers at the Oms-Sant Miquel Nursing Home will be first in line for the Pfizer jab.
The vaccination campaign will continue on Monday with 5,850 doses in Mallorca, Minorca and Ibiza and between 600 and 1,000 immunisations a day, according to IB-Salut Director General Juli Fuster.
"We hope that by the beginning of the summer we will have vaccinated 65-70% of the population of the Balearic Islands, which would give us group immunity,” he said.
A military transporter will deliver 165 doses of the vaccine to Mallorca on Sunday, but the specific arrival point for the first shipment has not been revealed for security reasons.
Over the next twelve weeks, 5,850 vaccines will arrive in the Balearic Islands every Monday, 3,900 for Mallorca, 975 for Ibiza and 975 for Minorca. Each Pfizer's vaccine package contains 975 vaccines.
All 12,000 residents and Healthcare Workers at Nursing Homes in the Balearics will receive their first dose of the vaccine within two weeks, according to Vaccine Strategy Coordinator Carlos Villafáfila.
All 25,000 other Healthcare Professionals in the Balearic Islands and uninstitutionalised dependents, who live at home will also be vaccinated in Phase 1.
The Government expects to receive 120,000 doses of vaccine in the first three months of 2021 and Villafáfila pointed out that the Moderna vaccine will also be available soon.
60 vaccination teams made up of Primary Care staff who’ve been specially trained will administer the first doses and carry out the second jabs 22 days later.
Villafáfila stressed that priority is being given to those who are most vulnerable.
“Those who need it most must be protected first,” he said, “but people must continue to follow the coronavirus safety measures after immunisation begins because the vaccine won’t be effective until a high percentage of the Balearic population has had it."
"We will still have patients and people admitted to hospital, which means we have to maintain the coronavirus safety measures," insisted Fuster. “Social distancing, washing hands and wearing a face mask are the only things that work.”