The Balearic Islands have registered a flu rate of 64.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the latest available data (week of December 1-7), still below the weighted national rate of 164.6 cases/100,000, but with a clear upward trend compared to the previous week, when the figure was 3.3. The impact of the Immaculate Conception long weekend and social and family gatherings has not yet been reflected. This increase comes within a flu season that has started four weeks earlier than usual and has led the region to enter epidemic phase 1 last week, as the threshold is 36 cases/100,000, a level already exceeded several days ago. This situation has not occurred for years and places the Balearic Islands in a scenario of more accelerated virus spread, although the level of transmission is still considered moderate.

The flu has entered epidemic phase in the Balearic Islands, as announced this Thursday by the Minister of Health, Manuela García. The threshold for entering phase 1 of the epidemic, which the Islands are currently in, is 36 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and the Balearic Islands are registering 37.3. García highlighted that the epidemic phase has arrived four weeks earlier than usual, an unusual situation that has not occurred "for many years." However, the situation in the Islands is "similar to that of the rest of Spain." The variant currently circulating is AH1N1, and no cases of the K subvariant of the H3N2 virus, which is circulating in the rest of Spain, have yet been registered. As explained by the Balearic Islands Health Service (ARA Baleares), the forecast is that the peak of the epidemic The situation is expected to improve during the Christmas holidays. The scenario that begins this Thursday is Stage 1, according to the framework established with the Ministry of Health at the National Health Commission this week. In this stage, the Government's recommendations are: mask use by the general public with respiratory symptoms, especially in enclosed spaces and vulnerable environments; mask use by healthcare professionals; hand hygiene; ventilation of enclosed spaces; and social distancing. "Everything we learned with COVID-19 remains valid," García emphasized. Both the Minister and the Director General of Public Health, Antonia Elena Esteban, have called for vaccination, especially for healthcare professionals and those over 65. However, neither masks nor vaccination are mandatory, but rather recommendations from the Government (a "strong recommendation" for healthcare workers). Furthermore, if the epidemiological situation changes, the measures will be intensified. At this point, the possibility of eliminating appointments for vaccinations and allowing them at any time is being considered. Regarding the overlap between the flu and COVID-19, the presence of the coronavirus is minimal at the moment. "COVID-19 is no longer a seasonal virus. We usually have a peak in the summer. That doesn't mean it won't appear, but now it's at minimal levels," García said.

It begins in December, and with it comes the threat of a surge in flu cases in the Balearic Islands, just as it has already happened in the rest of Spain, where the weighted rate has risen to 40 cases per 10,000 inhabitants, above the epidemic threshold of 36. In the Islands, the rate is 18.2%. Although this is not yet a high figure, it marks three consecutive weeks of growth, and the trend is expected to intensify. "It will eventually happen. The flu will reach its peak at Christmas," says Joan Carles March, a professor at the Andalusian School of Public Health. "When people say we're better off than the rest of Spain, that's not correct. The comparison should be made with how the Balearic Islands were a year ago, when the incidence rate was below 10 cases," he continues. Although the rise in the epidemic curve is currently gentle, he warns that this will change. "It will spike, and there will probably be a surge of cases in the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve," which will put pressure on healthcare services. The 'good news' is that in other years the epidemic curve began to decline in mid-February; this year, if everything goes as planned, it will do so sooner, because the duration of the epidemic is usually the same.

43.4 percent of children in the second cycle of preschool in the Balearic Islands have already received the flu vaccine at their schools, as reported this Monday by the Ministries of Health and Culture, Education and Universities at a press conference. Specifically, almost 12,000 preschool students—out of a target population of 27,200—have already been vaccinated in 341 schools across the archipelago. The ministries highlighted that expanding the campaign to all educational centers has allowed them to increase the number of children protected tenfold compared to last year's pilot program, in which 1,217 students were vaccinated. This was explained by the Minister of Health, Manuela García, and the Minister of Education and Universities, Antoni Vera, during a visit to the CEIP Aina Moll i Marquès school. They added that, of the 341 participating centers, 53% have vaccination rates above 40%, with 103 schools above 50%, and 77 with rates between 40% and 49%.

The Ministry of Health launched its flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign this Tuesday, targeting both residents and staff at nursing homes and day centers in the Balearic Islands. In total, the vaccination target is 4,814 residents, of whom 4,277 are residents of nursing homes; 527 live in centers for people with disabilities; and 10 are patients with chronic illnesses, according to press releases issued by the Ministry of Health and the Consell de Mallorca.

The Regional Ministry of Health is launching a new seasonal flu vaccination campaign, with special attention to protecting at-risk groups and children. Vaccination officially begins on October 13 and will run until March 31, 2026, although the Regional Minister of Health, Manuela García, has recommended that everyone be vaccinated before early December. Vaccination in nursing homes, institutionalized centers, and educational centers will begin on October 6, and general vaccination for the rest of the population will begin on October 13. For this latter group, appointments can now be made through the Patient Portal, Infosalut Connecta, or directly at their health centers.

The Ministry of Health will begin vaccinating the target population of children in all public, private, and state-subsidized schools in the Balearic Islands against the flu, totaling 353 schools. By island, vaccinations will be provided in 275 schools in Mallorca, 43 in Ibiza, 4 in Formentera, and 31 in Menorca. During the campaign, which begins on October 6 and runs until November 7, vaccination will be offered to approximately 28,000 children enrolled in the second cycle of early childhood education, that is, children born in 2020, 2021, and 2022. Accompanied by the Regional Minister of Education, Antoni Vera, and the Director General of Public Health, Elena Esteban, she emphasized that they have expanded school vaccination to all schools in the Balearic Islands following the positive results obtained in last year's pilot program, in which 43.2% of children were vaccinated, while those who were not included were vaccinated. Schoolchildren.