They could call it the Book of Moron.
Spain will keep a register of every person in the country that declines a coronavirus vaccine when offered.
The country’s health minister said the data would be “shared with European partners.”
As part of the European Union, which approved use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine from Sunday, a vaccination programme has now begun in the country which has one of the worst coronavirus death tolls of anywhere in the world. The country has surpassed 50,000 deaths.
In an interview with broadcaster La Sexta health minister Salvador Illa said: “What will be done is a registry, which will be shared with our European partners… of those people who have been offered it and have simply rejected it.
“It is not a document which will be made public and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection.”
The politician said the document would not be shared with employers but reaffirmed that vaccination was the best route out of the pandemic and aims “to vaccinate all of us – the more the better.”
On Monday Illa said: “People who decide not to get vaccinated, which we think is a mistake, are within their rights.
“We are going to try to solve doubts. Getting vaccinated saves lives, it is the way out of this pandemic.”
Strict public health measures are in place in Spain, restricting travel within the country. However there will be a relaxation on New Year’s Eve, when 10 people will be allowed to gather indoors for celebrations.
In the UK the government is considering a ‘Tier 5’ national lockdown given the prevalence of a new highly transmissible variant of the disease, also now found in Spain.
It’s reported today that 2 million people must be vaccinated weekly in the UK in order to avoid a third wave of the disease.
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