Spain is compiling a register of people who refuse to have a COVID-19 vaccine – and will share it with European neighbors.
Health Minister Salvador Illa made the announcement on Monday even because he insisted that vaccination – which was put out there over the weekend – was not compulsory, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
“What will be done is a register that will be shared with our European partners … of the people who were offered it and simply rejected it,” Illa told La Sexta television, according to the agency.
“This is not a document that will be made public, and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection,” he insisted.
The main purpose was to help track down those vaccinated against COVID-19, and to find out why people are not getting the chance, a source told The Guardian.
The initiative could also help Spain regain confidence in its tourism sector, which is linked to the earlier spread of the coronavirus, Bloomberg News said.
Spain is one of the countries worst affected by the pandemic, with nearly 1.9 million confirmed cases and more than 50,000 deaths on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.