According to Reuters 24, Spain’s chief of defense staff Miguel Angel Villarroya resigned on 23rd local time. It was previously reported that Villarroya violated the rules and “jumped the queue” for Coronavirus vaccine, causing outrage in Spain.
The Spanish Defense Ministry said in a statement that Villarroya had submitted his resignation to Defense Minister Margarita Robles. But the statement did not specify the reason for Villarroya’s resignation or whether he had violated the vaccination rules.
The statement said, “(Villarroya) never intended to take advantage of improper privileges that tarnished the image of the military and brought its honor into question.” And it added that Villarroya “made what he believed to be the right decision” but “damaged the public image of the army.”
Since December last year, Spain has seen a significant increase in new cases and a sudden increase in pressure to prevent the pandemic. To prevent and control the pandemic, the Spanish government has stepped up the progress of vaccination and prioritized the two groups most vulnerable to the virus – health care workers and the elderly (over 64 years old).
At the same time, vaccination in Spain has been slow and frequent. Spanish newspaper El País recently said that the country’s health department estimated that, according to the current progress, elderly people over 70 years old will not be able to complete vaccination until March this year; in addition, some areas have also appeared, because the syringe is not standardized, resulting in the vaccine dose wasted.
However, according to local media in Spain on 22, Chief of Defense Staff Villarroa has been vaccinated with Coronavirus vaccine. According to the vaccination regulations, Villarroya, who is now 63 years old, does not belong to the high-risk group. After this news came out, Spanish society was in an uproar.
A Spanish netizen wrote on Twitter on the 23rd: “Villarroya and his colleagues, my companion 67 years old, suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and blindness. We are still waiting for the vaccination. (We are) a staff member and a former nurse, and we belong to the first group (of vaccinations). Do you think you are more important?”
Reuters said Villarroa could not immediately be reached for comment on the matter.
Also according to real-time statistics from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, the number of new confirmed cases in Spain has remained above 20,000 per day since January this year, and soared to 80,000 on Jan. 18.
January 24, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Spain is approaching 2.5 million, with 2499,560 cases, and more than 50,000 deaths, with a total of 55,441 cases.
