2020 was the year everyone was locked up in their homes, and with 2021 soon approaching with a vaccine, the question many people are asking is; will the vaccine be mandatory.
In Spain, Health Minister Salvador Illa said the vaccine would not be mandatory. Still, there are plans to set up a register of people who refuse to receive a vaccination for the coronavirus and share it with officials in other European Union nations. He went on to say, "It is not a document which will be made public, and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection." Would such action bring fear to those who choose not to get vaccinated?
Illa reportedly portrayed receiving a vaccination as "an act of solidarity towards our loved ones and our citizenship" as receiving the vaccine is the best form to defeat the virus.
Reports, according to the BBC, have shown that some people in the country are still reluctant to receive the vaccination; the numbers have dropped to 28% this December from 47% last month. According to DW news, the government expects to have between 15 to 20 million people out of its population of 47 million vaccinated by June.
This register may prove to threaten individual freedom and privacy, which is a fundamental issue to look into. Spanish authorities also clarified to Germany's DPA news agency that the register would contain clinical data only. Only those who showed up for a vaccine and then rejected it would be registered, they said.
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