Blood sample collection for serological study. archive photo. | Jaume Morey

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Coronavirus immunisation could begin in Majorca within months, according to Maria Antònia Font, General Director of Public Health.

"It is expected that the vaccination of at risk groups in each community will get underway at the end of this year or the beginning of 2021,” she said.

In the meantime, the Health Department will identify risk groups according to a profile similar to the one used for flu vaccinations which includes those over 60 and the chronically ill. People suffering from hypertension will also be prioritised.

An Inter-territorial Council of the National Health System has been scheduled for Wednesday to work out who will receive the vaccine first and each Community has been told to provide data of vulnerable groups.

"The goal is equitable distribution so that it reaches the people who need it most and no one is left out," said Font, who stressed that vaccination in Spain is voluntary but said she hopes that everyone will agree to it.

A campaign will be launched once the immunisation supplies have been received and as more doses become available other large groups will be offered jabs "to stop the transmission chain,” and according to Font “a significant percentage of the population must be vaccinated for immunity to be effective.”

Maria Antònia Font insists that once the vaccines have passed all the phases of the process, they will be reliable.

Spain has already signed a contract with AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is scheduled to receive the vaccine at the end of 2020.

“The acquisition was carried out within the framework of the European Union, each country has reserved the number of doses it needs and everyone is now waiting for the industry to confirm supplies.