“How did Spain achieve such a high vaccination rate?” That is the question asked by many foreign press, according to Huffpost. According to the latest data, Spain has the highest number of people vaccinated against Covid-19 in Europe.
According to the latest data from the Spanish Ministry of Health, a total of 63.8 million doses have been delivered in Spain. Of those, 61.4 million vaccines have been delivered. Furthermore, 29.8 million Spaniards are fully vaccinated.
How has Spain taken the lead?
Based on this data, France24.com wonders “how Spain has taken the lead in vaccinations against Covid?” This question has been taken up by press around the world. From the United States toFrance, it analyses what is going on in Spain with regard to the willingness to be vaccinated against corona.
While other countries have seen a high percentage of mistrust of the vaccines, in Spain there is “great trust in the public health system”. In addition, “close family ties encourage people to get the vaccine to protect their relatives.”
“More than 61% of the Spanish population of 47 million is fully vaccinated; this is one of the highest rates among the large countries of the European Union. In Italy it is more than 57.8%, in France 56% and in Germany 55, 2%. In the United States, 50.3% have been vaccinated according to the same data.
The article points out that, according to a study conducted by Imperial College London, 79% of Spaniards trust vaccines. This compares to 62% in the US, 56% in France and 47% in Japan.
Constitutional right to free coverage
AFP points out the public health system in Spain has a constitutional right to free universal coverage. This, undoubtedly, contributed to the success of vaccination programme.
Another notable factor increasing the willingness among Spaniards to get vaccinated would be the polio vaccine. AFP explains that while Europe started vaccinating against this disease as early as the 1950s, the Franco regime decided to wait almost another decade. “As a result, thousands of children became infected, leading to severe physical disabilities and many deaths. Recently, this negligence led the government to recognise the people who contracted polio as victims of the regime”.
