The Government of Canarias, through the Ministry of Health, has updated the Immunization Calendar for all ages in the archipelago. The main novelty is the introduction of vaccination against the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), which will be offered to adult residents in socio-sanitary centers over seventy years old and, for those under that age, to individuals with severe chronic respiratory or cardiac diseases. It will also be administered to people with hematological cancers and lung or hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients in hospital services.
This modification, published in the Official Gazette of Canarias (BOC) on July 14, is based on regional and national epidemiological data, international trends, and the latest scientific evidence. The change in name from 'Vaccination Calendar' to 'Immunization Calendar' is due to the inclusion of preparations such as monoclonal antibodies, which are not strictly vaccines.
The new calendar also introduces other significant changes: a booster dose of the Tdap vaccine against whooping cough for fourteen-year-old adolescents; a dose of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for unvaccinated individuals aged thirteen to twenty and for high-risk groups; the adoption of a twenty-valent conjugate preparation for the Pneumococcus vaccine in the elderly; and clarification on the offering of the Meningococcus vaccine for individuals under nineteen years old.
Furthermore, vaccination against Hepatitis A is introduced for individuals under nineteen years old traveling to endemic areas, and for adults in prostitution and men who have sex with men (MSM). Vaccination against Hepatitis B is reinforced in adults with risk factors, and protection against Herpes Zoster is extended to individuals at higher risk of complications. Finally, a specific vaccination program for healthcare students is launched, and the measles triple viral vaccine is recommended for individuals born in Spain after 1978 who cannot certify two correctly administered doses.
