Spain is planning to keep a registry of individuals who refuse to be vaccinated and share it with other European Union nations, according to the country's health minister.
Registry of People Who Decline to Be Administered COVID-19 Vaccine
According to Health Minister Salvador Illa, the list of those who decline to receive the vaccine would remain to uphold data protection laws and would not be made accessible to the employers or the public.
Spain would develop a register of such people as part of European efforts to contravene public resistance to the new doses.
The register would be shared with other European partners, but it would not be made public, according to Illa in an interview, reported The Peninsula.
According to Illa, "It is not a document which will be made public and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection," reported DW.
Being administered the vaccine is voluntary in Spain.
On Monday, the nation became the fourth European country to record over 50,000 COVID-19 fatalities, reported Mint.
Spain has been hit particularly hard by the novel coronavirus, forcing the government to implement a state of emergency in March. When it surfaced from a rigid national lockdown three months later, overseeing the pandemic was placed in the shoulders of regional governments.
European governments are looking to track the number of people receiving coronavirus vaccines to help navigate a path out of the global health crisis.
France would have a registry of individuals who get immunized.
Spain has confirmed almost 1.9 million COVID-19 cases. Illa stated inoculation is free.
Illa further remarked, "We all see that the best form to defeat the virus is to get all vaccinated, the more, the better." Illa added that being inoculated should be perceived as "an act of solidarity toward our loved ones and our citizenship," reported Washington Examiner.
He also 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," reported Yahoo.
The proportion of Spaniards who are dubious about being administered a vaccine has plunged to 28 percent in December from 47 percent in November, according to a poll published in November.
The minister also said that the way to defeat COVID-19 was to vaccinate more people.
Spain has currently witnessed over 1.8 million cases during the pandemic.
While the nation has ordered restrictions on movement and a curfew as cases rose, the government has not imposed a rigid lockdown like those implemented in the United Kingdom and France in the previous weeks.
The number of fatalities due to the virus has been slowing since last month, according to Fernando Simon, the head of Spain's medical emergency response center.
The survey by the CIS research institute indicates 40.5% of respondents are willing to receive the jab, while 16.2% would opt to be administered if proven "reliable."
Regional officials will contact individuals when it is their turn to be vaccinated, the government stated on Monday.
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