Spain to keep register of everyone who refuses to take the coronavirus vaccine

Spain is among the worst affected European nations

File image: Spain has rolled out its Covid vaccination programme from 27 December (Getty images)

Spain’s health minister has said that the government will keep a register of everyone who refuses to take the Covid-19 vaccine although the details will not be made public.

"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,” said Spain’s health minister Salvador Illa in an interview to La Sexta television.

He, however, clarified that “it is not a document which will be made public and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection.”

Mr Illa stated that the list of people not taking the vaccine will also not be shared with employers but observed that the way to defeat the virus was "to vaccinate all of us - the more the better,” according to BBC.

European Union, of which Spain is part, initiated the coronavirus programme on Sunday across the region starting with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.  

Spain is among the worst affected countries due to the pandemic in Europe and among the top 10 countries in the world. Since the start of the pandemic, it has recorded about 1.85 million cases including 49,824 deaths.

On Monday, the Spanish health minister had said that “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,” he said.

Spain has already recorded a case of new coronavirus strain, which Britain reported earlier this month claiming it is about 70 per cent more transmissible.

To control the spread of the pandemic, Spain has already imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people within the country till 6 January. However, restrictions are relaxed for New Year when 10 people per household will be allowed to gather.