The President of the Valencian Regional Government, Ximo Puig, has announced that this summer all the vaccination centres activated for use without prior appointment will be kept open in different parts of the Valencian Community to speed up vaccination against COVID-19, and has encouraged people who have not yet done so to complete their vaccination schedule.
This was stated after holding a meeting with experts from different areas of knowledge to assess the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Valencian Community. The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Universal Health and Public Health, Miguel Mínguez.
The president has ruled out the application of new restrictions in the face of the increase in registered infections, but has appealed to the prudence and responsibility of citizens, and especially of the infected people, as well as to “be cautious with the most vulnerable people”.
Similarly, he recalled the importance of maintaining protection measures against the virus, such as the responsible use of the mask, especially in crowds and for the most vulnerable people; hand hygiene; the ventilation of interior spaces, and maintaining the safety distance.
In addition, Ximo Puig has advanced that the Generalitat will propose to the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System the planning of the fourth dose of the vaccine for this autumn, especially for those most vulnerable people, and has insisted on the “protective effect” of vaccination.
The head of the Consell has assured that at the moment the new variant is “rapidly spreading”, but its severity is less in those people who are vaccinated, which demonstrates the effectiveness of immunisation.
Finally, he pointed out that Valencian hospitals are prepared to meet the needs of this wave of infections whose curve is expected to flatten at the end of July, and he insisted on the need to be vigilant “because COVID is not on vacation”, has manifested.
Among the people who have participated in person at the meeting of experts are the vice president of the Health Services Research Institute Foundation, Ricard Meneu; the researcher from the Health and Biomedical Research Foundation of the Valencian Community Salvador Peiró; and the general deputy director of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health and Public Health, Herme Vanaclocha.
It has also had the participation of the head of the Microbiology Service of the Clinical Hospital of Valencia, David Navarro; the doctorate in Chemical Sciences from the University of Valencia and from the Higher Council for Scientific Research Pilar Mateo; and the deputy director general of Evaluation of Care Management in the Ministry of Universal Health and Public Health, Ramón Limón.
Likewise, during the meeting, the professor of Psychiatry at the University of Valencia Rafael Tabarés; the head of the Cardiac Surgery service of the General Hospital of Valencia and Cardio-Vascular Surgery of the La Fe Hospital and director of the Cardio-Vascular Diseases Area, Anastasio Montero, and the General Linguistics professor at the University of Valencia Beatriz Gallardo.
Finally, the meeting was attended electronically by the Professor of Economic Analysis at the University of Valencia and director of research at the Valencian Institute of Economic Research Paco Pérez; the doctor from the Media Lab of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Principal Data Scientist at the Think-Tank Data-Pop Alliance, Nuria Oliver; the oncology researcher expert in the application of artificial intelligence methods to the fight against cancer, Aurelia Bustos, and the researcher from the Institute of Environmental Diagnosis and Water Studies of the CSIC and winner of the 2013 Rei Jaume I Prize, Xavier Querol.
