Spain will send special convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday to areas cut by storm Filomena, the interior minister said.
The government is finding ways to ensure that the country’s weekly shipment of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine can be distributed to regional health authorities through the use of convoys escorted by police.
Transport Minister José Luis Abalos said the convoys would also distribute food supplies to those in need.
The Filomena storm has caused the heaviest snowfall in recent decades in the country and has killed four people.
Temperatures are expected to drop to about -10 degrees Celsius (14 F) in the coming days, with the possibility of snow turning to ice and damaged trees falling.
“The danger is not over,” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Markaska said. “A week of extreme cold is coming that will turn all the snow on the ground into ice, thus multiplying the risk,” he said. “The storm carries a cold wave that could bring temperatures down to record levels,” he added.
Hundreds stranded
About 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) of roads have been affected by the storm in central Spain. Traffic authorities asked people to stay inside and avoid non-essential trips.
Rescue services have also helped more than 1,500 people trapped in their vehicles.
About 100 employees and shoppers have spent two nights sleeping in a shopping center in the city of Majahaonda, north of Madrid, after being trapped by Friday’s storm.
According to officials, a man and a woman in a car drowned after a river erupted near Malaga in the south, while two people experiencing homelessness froze in Madrid and Calatayud in the east.
The State Meteorological Agency reported that between 20 and 30 centimeters of snow fell in Madrid on Saturday, most since 1971.
mvb / aw (AP, Reuters)