Valencia began its flu and COVID-19 vaccination campaign on 28 September, with the rollout taking place in stages. Andalusia is due to start on 1 October. SATSE says both campaigns are proceeding without the extra nurses primary care needs, risking delays in vaccination services and greater pressure on hospital emergency departments as flu and COVID-19 spread alongside other respiratory viruses.
Primary care teams are already carrying the load. Health authorities are adding vaccination duties to existing workloads, the union says, while nurses absent due to illness or leave, including rest days, are not being replaced.
SATSE says nurses' role in the campaign extends beyond administering injections. They plan the programme and manage appointments, handle doses from receipt through storage, then monitor coverage and possible vaccine reactions.
The warning goes beyond appointment times. SATSE says the same pattern returns each year: vaccination work becomes slower and harder to manage before emergency departments see more patients with flu and COVID-19, as well as other respiratory viruses. The organisation links both stages to the extra burden on nursing staff.
Sessions outside standard hours, including afternoons and weekends, raise a separate issue. SATSE says this work must be voluntary and fairly paid. The union rejects very low rates, along with unequal payments within the same health service, and wants regulated voluntary modules that protect rest and work-life balance.
The staffing shortage also affects other care. Preventive programmes and health-promotion work in health centres, as well as patients' homes, may be put on hold, leaving chronic and multimorbid patients with less dedicated attention.
SATSE says these interruptions affect programmes with a direct bearing on people's health and quality of life. The union has repeatedly called for stronger nursing teams before the campaigns begin, Servimedia and Europa Press report.
In Andalusia, SATSE has asked the Servicio Andaluz de Salud to cover absences caused by holidays or sickness, along with other leave. It also wants extra staff in centres with the highest workloads.
The dispute fits a wider pattern of unresolved capacity problems in public services, much as an earlier public-service report showed in another policy area. Here, the pressure is operational: nurses must absorb a seasonal campaign without the staffing arrangements the union considers necessary.
Reports from Valencia and Alicante also describe campaigns starting without specific reinforcement of nursing establishments, raising the risk that vaccination duties will fall to existing primary-care teams. Regional reports identify the lack of announced additional nursing posts as SATSE's basic complaint.
The reports reflect SATSE's position and regional campaign announcements; no response from health authorities has been reported.
SATSE says the problem will recur in coming years unless health services plan their nursing workforce together and calculate staffing needs properly. The union expects demand to keep growing.
It has promoted an Iniciativa Legislativa Popular seeking enough nurses in hospitals and health centres to guarantee safe, quality care. The proposed law has been pending in the Congreso de los Diputados for more than six years.
SATSE describes the delay as a debt owed by public and legislative authorities to citizens. The union's position is direct: vaccination cannot be treated as an extra task for teams that are already stretched.
SATSE warns of patient delays and greater pressure on emergency departments, with preventive care possibly suspended. Unless staffing and voluntary out-of-hours work are addressed together, the campaign will continue to expose a planning failure instead of meeting a public-health need.
