Spain suffers twice as much income from Covid as it did a year ago

• Vaccination This is how Health justifies postponing the second dose of anti-Covid booster for those over 80 years of age to autumn

• Mortality The seventh wave of Covid causes an excess of 4,000 deaths in two months in Spain

Spain is facing its

in a situation of stagnation, without the seventh wave finishing off or the hospitalizations it causes being reduced.

The number of patients admitted for coronavirus in our country, which has just suffered a new upswing, is surprisingly high for these dates: a year ago, with the vaccination campaign in full swing, the total number of people hospitalized for this cause did not reach 3,300.

Now, on the other hand, it exceeds 6,700, more than double.

The ICUs,

which are in a much clearer situation (342 beds occupied by Covid patients) than a year ago (899 on June 15, 2021), have resisted well.

The protection of the vaccines, the new antiviral treatments and the fact of coming from a much calmer course have kept the intensive care units from collapsing.

Even so,

, always with the uncertainty inherent in this type of data (both then and now).

Compared to other large European countries, the hospital situation in Spain, one week into the summer, is striking.

, according to

.

Once again, these are data subject to great uncertainty, but they reflect a clear stagnation: while

, here it remains close to the peak of income (142 weekly per million, on May 15) .

The seventh wave, without ever approaching a health collapse, is now prolonging itself in a kind of plateau, with

.

The school year, unlike a year ago, ends worse than it started.

"The fourth wave, in the spring of 2021, was very small, much smaller than the seventh wave now," recalls Antonio Guirao, a researcher at the University of Murcia and an expert in the evolution of the pandemic.

Seventh wave, reinfections and new cases of Covid

"In addition to the fact that this was a smaller wave, it

. At that time, more vulnerable people protected themselves. In fact, the incidence in those over 60 was almost negligible, unlike now ,

", contrasts Guirao.

A year ago, the incidence for age groups over 60 years was less than 20 cases per 100,000 in seven days.

Now, on the other hand, that data exceeds 250 cases.

"In terms of infections,

. Not only have there been reinfections, but also many people who have not been infected to date have finally become infected, because they have begun to protect themselves less and because of the enormous circulation that the virus has had," Guirao analyzes.

but it has left a constant trickle of serious cases.

In addition, it is costing him to descend.

It has not been high, but it is taking amplitude.

"

, it gives the feeling that everything is going well; but it is a fallacy, because the number of people affected grows day by day. A silly example: we start from an empty hospital and, for a whole month, one person a day is admitted and another is discharged. The hospital is always empty, but, at the end of the month, 30 people have been affected," Guirao illustrates.

Spring 2021, a high rate of vaccination

There is another difference compared to last year: by the end of the spring of 2021,

while now it is very possible that immunity is waning.

"There is a problem, surely, linked to the fact that immunity has decreased, especially in older people.

, which has not been as high as we had in the first two doses" , indicates Joan Carles March, professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health.

"To that we can add the fact that among people who talk about these issues, we are not clear about the fourth dose. We have not made it clear," admits this expert, who has closely followed - and with success in his predictions - the evolution of the vaccination campaign.

His proposal: people aged 80 or over, as well as those over 65 who are vulnerable -immunocompromised, chronic patients, transplant patients...-, would benefit from that fourth dose.

It is necessary to improve the vaccination situation that we have.

Above all, the third dose for a high percentage of the population

Joan Carles March

March's recommendation contrasts with the current situation in Spain

- and is halfway between that made by the European authorities -

and the Americans, who already advise, since last May 20, a second booster -or fourth dose- for "people 50 years of age or older and people 12 years of age or older who are severely or moderately immunosuppressed."

Europe, for its part, is waiting for new evidence before moving forward in this direction.

But first, there is another challenge:

.

"It is true that there are people who, in recent months, will have generated a hybrid immunity with omicron; but, for the rest, it is very important to get vaccinated," March stresses.

"

. It is necessary to improve the vaccination situation that we have. Above all, the third dose for a high percentage of the population."

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