Barcelona has opened its mass coronavirus vaccination centre in the Fira, the trade fair area below Montjuïc mountain. For the moment, it is a trial: a pilot test which took place this Monday afternoon gave doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to about 1,000 people between the ages of 60 and 69. This weekend, it will continue - for three days - with 6,000 doses of Pfizer and centred on vaccine recipients in the 70-79 age group.
"This speaks for itself," said the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, who visited the centre with the Catalan health minister, Alba Vergés. "It's an exciting day because we can see a mass vaccination operation in our city." She detailed that there are 36 municipal spaces in Barcelona set aside for the vaccination campaign and that the CAP primary care centres are being reserved for people with more difficulties. In addition, the mayor also mentioned that the city has the Fira to be used as a mass vaccination centre as long as vaccines are available.
Ada Colau: "This centre could give jabs to 100,000 people in a week if there are sufficient vaccine doses"
Barcelona mayor Ada Colau and Catalan health minister Alba Vergés at the Fira vaccination centre / Sergi Alcàzar
In the same vein, Vergés explained that the vaccination campaign is "progressing" and that "we need spaces that make possible these [mass] vaccination pushes." Around 280,000 doses of Pfizer have arrived this week, of which 180,000 will go to second doses and 100,000 to first doses. Thus, the minister explained that in this pilot test about 50 health professionals are working and that most have already taken part at other vaccination points. "As it gets more massive, that will be when these large campaigns will be needed." This coming weekend, she said, a three-day campaign will be held with a total of 2,000 vaccines per day.
From then on, the centre will open depending on the number of vaccines available, at its location in the Fira de Barcelona trade fair pavilions near Avinguda Maria Cristina. As confirmed by the Catalan health department, 280,000 vaccines from Pfizer, 30,200 from Moderna and 16,900 from AstraZeneca have been flown in to Catalonia this week.
Mass vaccination point at the Fira / Sergi Alcàzar
Barcelona wants to host new European agency
This Monday it was announced that the Catalan government and the Barcelona city council have started work on presenting the Catalan capital as a candidate to host the new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), created by the European Commission in the wake of the pandemic.
In this regard, the mayor said that Barcelona "is a very well-positioned city" to acquire the centre, while also reiterating that some stiff competition is possible. Vergés stated that Catalonia "has a strong system" and "a setting that makes it a leader".
The agency could be up and running in 2023 and according to the minister, "the opening process is quick". For now, she guaranteed that the whole Catalan government will work to make this candidacy possible.
Main image: Mass vaccination point at the Fira de Barcelona / Sergi Alcàzar