Madrid halts Covid-19 vaccination two weeks as it runs out of doses

Madrid health authorities have suspended vaccination against Covid-19 this week and next as they are running out of doses, Madrid's deputy regional president Ignacio Aguado said on Wednesday.

The region has halted the vaccination of new people, keeping the few doses it still has to give second jab to patients, Aguado told reporters.

The Madrid region has already vaccinated 180,000 people since the campaign started, he said.

"Unfortunately, as we suspected the pace of deliveries was interrupted," he said.

Spain has administered just over 1.3 million doses to a priority group of care-home residents and front-line medics, some 10% of whom have already received a second jab.

During this first phase, the government plans to inoculate around 2.5 million people by the end of February.