Health workers distributing the COVID-19 vaccine have been forced to take extra precautions after Spain was paralyzed by Storm Filomena. The snowfall in Madrid reached a level unseen in half a century.
Spanish health authorities are planning how to distribute the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine amid heavy snowfall Image: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
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Spain will send special convoys carrying the COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday to areas cut off 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 by using police-escorted convoys.
Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos said the convoys would also distribute food supplies to those in need.
Snow Storm Filomena cripples Spain
Winter Storm Filomena hit Spain with all its might over the weekend, with snow in the north and flooding in the south. It was the worst winter storm to hit Spain in several decades.
Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance
Pitching in to help
Neighbors next to the Gregorio Maranon Hospital in Madrid pitched in to clear the snow. More than 50cm (nearly 20 inches) of snow fell in Madrid.
Image: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
Madrid sights covered in white
The weekend snowstorm gave the Oriente Square a fresh - albeit temporary - paint job.
Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance
Making rough sleeping even rougher
The homeless were especially vulnerable during the storm. At least two people froze to death.
Image: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images
A new way to get around
With paths and roads turning slippery, some people found another way to get around the city.
Image: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images
Trapped on the roads
More than 1,500 people were stuck on the roads across the country over the weekend. It took more than 24 hours to free all of the drivers.
Image: Oscar Del Pozo/AFP/Getty Images
Tons of the white stuff
Winter storm Filomena dropped more than half a meter of snow in some places, needing plows to work around the clock to clear the roads
Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance
Not going anywhere
The old Madrid-Burgos railway was impassable due to the storm. Several above ground train tracks suffered a similar fate.
Image: Bernat Armangue/AP Photo/picture alliance
Madrid not left unscathed
The strom brought down several tree branches in the city, leaving more to clean up after the storm.
Image: Manu Fernandez/AP Photo/picture alliance
Also hitting La Liga
Workers had to put in extra time in order to clear the field in time for the Osasuna-Real Madrid match at El Sadar stadium in Pamplona. The match ended in a scoreless draw.
Temperatures are expected to drop to about -10 degrees Celsius (14 F) in the coming days, with the prospect of snow turning to ice and damaged trees toppling over.
"The danger is not over," Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Markaska said. "A week of extreme cold is coming and that will transform all the snow on the ground into ice, thereby multiplying the risk," he said. "The storm is bringing with it a cold wave that could push temperatures down to record levels," he added.
Hundreds stranded
About 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) of roads have been affected by the storm across central Spain. Transit authorities called on people to stay indoors and avoid nonessential travel.
Rescue services have also helped more than 1,500 people stranded in their vehicles.
About 100 employees and shoppers have spent two nights sleeping at a shopping center in the town of Majahaonda, north of Madrid, after they became trapped by the storm on Friday.
According to officials, one man and a woman in a car drowned after a river burst close to Malaga in the south, while two people experiencing homelessness froze to death in Madrid and Calatayud in the east.
The State Meteorological Agency reported that 20-30 centimeters (7-8 inches) of snow fell in Madrid on Saturday, the most since 1971.
