The Regional Minister of Health, Manuela Garcia, visited the CEIP Pintor Torrent school in Ciutadella, where four out of ten children called for vaccination were immunised on Monday.
From today until 14 November, 24 schools in the Balearic Islands are participating in the Child Vaccination Pilot Plan.
The Regional Minister of Health, Manuela García, visited the CEIP Pintor Torrent school in Ciutadella on Monday, where 40% of the children under the age of five have been immunised against the flu with parental authorisation as part of the Pilot Influenza Vaccination Plan for Children, launched this year in coordination between Health and Education. This initiative aims to bring immunisation against this virus to children in the second cycle of infant education in schools.
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The pilot plan to immunise children against the flu begins in schools in the Balearic Islands
Councillor García was accompanied by the Director General of Public Health, Elena Esteban, the Deputy Director of Healthcare Services of the Servei de Salut, Concha Zaforteza, and the regional director of Education in Menorca, Alexandra Marqués.
Until 14 November, 2,900 schoolchildren from 24 schools on the islands will be able to be immunised at their educational centre. The acceptance rates for this vaccination in the school environment have been, by islands, as follows: in Mallorca, 52%, 40% in Menorca, 32.3% in Ibiza and 50% in Formentera.
‘We understand that bringing and facilitating the immunisation of the youngest children in schools, so that parents do not have to take them to health centres, can help protect a population group that is especially vulnerable,’ said the councillor, who stressed the importance of vaccinating children under five, who “are more likely to suffer a more serious infection, more complications and more hospital admissions”.
This marks the start of flu vaccination in the schools that are part of this pilot experience, a new feature of the 2024-2025 flu campaign. The immunisation of children in schools will always be carried out on a voluntary basis and with the informed consent of their parents or guardians. The target population for this campaign is children in the second cycle of infant education, i.e. all pupils born in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
This pilot project to immunise children, which will run from today until 14 November, includes 24 schools in the Balearic Islands, both public and private. Eleven schools in Mallorca, eight in Ibiza and Formentera and five in Menorca are taking part.
Influenza vaccination for children
Starting today, Monday, vaccination also begins for all at-risk groups, including children between the ages of 6 and 59 months. As of today, appointments for vaccinating children can be made on the grip.caib.es website, through the Appointment App or by calling the Infosalut telephone number.
The reason for the universal immunisation of this group, already implemented last season, is that children in this age group suffer very frequently from influenza, and sometimes very seriously. Moreover, they are often the main transmitters of the flu virus to other target groups. This not only provides the child with individual protection but also protects vulnerable people in their environment from infection.
The vaccination schedule for children will be a single dose and the youngest children, from six months to two years of age, will be administered an inactivated injectable vaccine. The rest of the children in the age group, from 2 years to 4 years and 11 months, will be given an intranasal flu vaccine.