Spain will send special convoys with the COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday to areas isolated by the storm Filomena, said the interior minister.
The government is finding ways to ensure that the weekly shipment of the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine to the country can be distributed to regional health authorities via trains escorted by the police.
Transport Minister José Luis Abalos said the trains will also distribute food to those in need.
The Filomena storm brought the biggest blizzard in decades in the country, killing four people.
Temperatures are expected to drop to around -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,” said Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Markaska. “A week of extreme cold is coming and it will turn all the snow on the ground into ice, multiplying the risk,” he said. “The storm is bringing with it a cold wave that can push temperatures to record levels,” he added.
Hundreds arrested
About 20,000 kilometers (12,000 miles) of roads were affected by the storm in central Spain. Transit authorities have asked people to stay at home and avoid unnecessary travel.
Rescue services also helped more than 1,500 people trapped in their vehicles.
About 100 employees and shoppers spent two nights sleeping in a shopping mall in the city of Majahaonda, north of Madrid, after being trapped in Friday’s storm.
According to authorities, a man and a woman in a car drowned after a river burst near Malaga in the south, while two homeless people died frozen 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 maximum since 1971.
mvb / aw (AP, Reuters)