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(Updates data, adds background on Madrid)
MADRID, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Spain will administer
AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine to people aged 45 to
55 in the next phase of its national inoculation plan, the
Health Ministry said on Wednesday, as new figures showed the
third wave of infection receding further.
The shot, which is approved for those between 18 and 55, is
now being given to people in that age bracket with a high risk
of contracting the virus, such as daycare workers and
physiotherapists, as well as police, firefighters and teachers.
Most of Spain's highest-priority nursing-home residents and
staff have already received two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech or
Moderna vaccines, which are now being rolled out to over
80-year-olds and medics.
Those shots will be given next to those over 70 and then
over 60, the ministry said, while people under 60 with a high
risk of serious COVID-19 infection will be next.
Authorities have administered 2.7 million doses and 1.1
million people have received a full course.
Some regions may convert big venues into makeshift injection
centres and hire retired doctors, students or pharmacists to
help reach a target of inoculating 70% of the population by the
end of summer.
After a post-Christmas surge, which saw daily infections
exceed 40,000, Spain's third wave is receding, with the two-week
incidence falling to 350 cases per 100,000 people on Wednesday
from 900 at the end of January.
The infection tally rose by 10,829 to 3.1 million on
Wednesday, while the death toll increased by 337 to 66,316.
Several regions have relaxed limits on business opening
hours and the hospitality sector, though curfews remain in force
across the country.
Madrid, which has Spain's loosest restrictions and has
allowed customers to continue gathering inside bars and
restaurants since last spring, has the country's second-highest
infection rate of 490 cases per 100,000 people.
Data from the regional government on Tuesday showed social
gatherings were the leading cause of infection clusters since
last June.
(Reporting by Nathan Allen, editing by Andrei Khalip and Giles
Elgood)
