The president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, announced yesterday that over the next eight weeks 1.3 million vaccines will arrive in the Islands, and 70% of the target population will be fully vaccinated by July 31st, and will then continue to get the remainder done as a soon as possible afterwards. Torres, who was vaccinated himself yesterday (above), said that it is a "gesture of responsibility with oneself,” to be inoculated, even though refusal in the Canary Islands is less than 1%.
Torres was with the Minister of Health for Spain, Carolina Darias, to present the new advertising campaign called ‘22 Angels’ launched by the Ministry of Health to continue encouraging Canaries residents to request their appointment and get vaccinated in the next few weeks, saying "We are facing the next eight key weeks for the health and economic future of the Canary Islands."
Under the motto ‘They already saved the world. Now it's our turn. Get vaccinated’, the Canarian Government is trying to make the population aware of the importance of receiving the vaccine. The emotional campaign draws on the memory of the feat in Spanish history that doctor Francisco Javier Balmis and the nurse, Isabel Zendal, carried out in 1803 when they took the smallpox vaccine from Spain to America by boat, with the help of 22 children who passed it by arm to arm, and one of whose first stops was Tenerife.
Carolina Darias assured that the vaccination campaign is moving very quickly especially among people over 60 years of age, with 93% coverage. And she announced that next week more than 4.6 million doses will arrive in Spain. "Vaccines are our best weapon to defeat the virus, but also our best lever for economic recovery, especially in a location so dependent on travel and tourism,” she said.
Darias reiterated yesterday that "you cannot choose which vaccine you have", since that is decided by the health authorities through supply, availability, and recommendation, except in the case of those under 60 who received the first dose of AstraZeneca and want to repeat the pattern, when the authorities recommend that they have Pfizer instead.
Finally, the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced yesterday that Spain will participate in a general test for the implementation of the Covid digital certificate that will facilitate mobility among European citizens from June 7th. In the Canary Islands, those interested can access the SCS portal or mobile APP to download the vaccination card against Covid-19 and are be able to travel.
