The director of the National Epidemiology Centre (CNE), José Luis Peñalvo, has stressed "the need to reinforce epidemiological surveillance" in order to "move forward on the issue of vaccinations," work which, in his view, must become "an inter-institutional priority for the different Ministries."
As he has detailed, the goal is "to ensure that the teams are stable; that the information systems are suitable, relevant and up to date, and coordination that makes it possible to sustain surveillance activity over time, without any period of uncertainty." These statements were made in Madrid, during the "X Jornada on Vaccinations of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology (SEE)".
The meeting, held this Tuesday at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC), served to insist that it is the right time to drive forward these tasks. Peñalvo emphasized that it is necessary to "reinforce them and coordinate a bit better than we are doing," something which, in his opinion, "would contribute much more to the success of vaccination programmes."
In his speech, he recalled that "vaccination is one of the pillars of public health" and highlighted that its "high effectiveness" in Spain "is an achievement that has been made with a great deal of effort, with programmes sustained over time and with the commitment of professionals." In similar terms, the director general of Public Health and Health Equity, Pedro Gullón, has also stated that the objective is "to work on improving vaccination policies."
Vaccination, a strategic prevention focus
After emphasizing the ministerial representative that vaccination is "a fundamental pillar of the National Health System (SNS)," the president of the SEE, Dr. Pello Latasa, has supported the idea of perfecting decisions in public health "in a strategic area such as prevention through immunization." In turn, the director of Basic Research at the CNIC, Vicente Andrés García, has pointed out that "Epidemiology plays an absolutely fundamental role."
At the event, organized by the Vaccines and Immunization Working Group of the scientific society, other key elements were also discussed: it was warned that changes in international vaccination policies and disinformation create new challenges to sustain public trust and ensure access to vaccines.
It has also been pointed out that the arrival of new vaccines opens the door to preventing serious diseases and avoiding hospitalizations in the adult population. In this regard, the speakers have called for decisions guided by scientific criteria, removing barriers to access to vaccination, and prioritizing the protection of groups with the greatest potential benefit.
They have reiterated that "the success of vaccination programs depends both on scientific evidence and the availability of vaccines as well as on social trust," and they have added that vaccination strategies must consider the inequalities that make it difficult for doses to reach those who need them most.
Disinformation and social trust in vaccines
Experts have highlighted that the recent changes to vaccination recommendations in the United States have opened the debate about their impact on access and on trust in health institutions. They have warned that their effects may be felt in other countries and influence the information that citizens receive, in a context in which combating disinformation has become one of the major challenges in public health.
In this scenario, it has become clear that healthcare professionals are essential players in generating trust, given that their guidance determines patients' decisions. A questionnaire from the Vaccines and Immunization Working Group of the SEE, with responses collected in 2019 and 2025 among epidemiologists and other public health professionals linked to the SEE and to the Spanish Society of Public Health and Health Administration (SESPAS), shows that the assessment of vaccines is very positive and remains so after the pandemic.
Specialists have stressed that "maintaining high levels of protection is especially important in situations such as the restoration of endemic measles transmission in Spain," recalling that in January 2026 the World Health Organization (WHO) communicated, after reviewing 2024 data, that the disease had begun to be transmitted continuously in the country again.
"Although the risk to the general population remains low thanks to vaccination, the increase in cases and outbreaks in other countries makes it necessary to maintain prevention efforts," they have insisted. At the same time, they have highlighted the need to "achieve coverage of at least 95 percent with the two doses of the MMR vaccine, facilitate vaccination for those who find it more difficult to access it, and detect cases early in order to act quickly in the event of outbreaks".
To conclude, the meeting has made it possible to address other issues, such as the importance of avoiding severe cases and hospitalizations through vaccination against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and pneumococcus in adults. In the first case, it has been recalled that older people and those who suffer from pre-existing conditions have a special vulnerability, while, in the second, differences have been pointed out in protection against the various variants of the bacterium.