Madrid, December 18: Spain will start the coronavirus vaccination programme from December 27. Last month, Spain's health department had announced that the entire population of the country would be vaccinated within a year. The people that will receive COVID-19 vaccine will be residents and health workers.

According to a report published in Anadolu News Agency, priority groups include around 2.5 million people, and entire Spain's population is divided into 18 groups. These groups are based on the risk of serious illness and death and the risk of being exposed. COVID-19 Second Wave: Spain First Country in Europe to Cross 1 Million Virus Cases.

Earlier this month, the Spanish government announced to abolish value-added tax (VAT) on the sale of COVID-19 vaccines and tests until the end of 2022. The decision was in accordance with the newly-reached European Union agreements.

In Spain COVID-19 vaccinations will be free for citizens and administered by the public health system, Spain's Finance Minister and Government Spokesperson Maria Jesus Montero told the press after the weekly cabinet meeting on December 10. Coronavirus Spread in Europe Much Earlier? COVID-19 Traced to Spain's Sewage Water Collected in March 2019, Virus Also Found in Waste Water of December in Italy.

Meanwhile, Spain is one of the worst-affected European countries due to COVID-19. On December 17, an additional 11,078 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Spain, the highest single-day spike since mid-November, according to the Health Ministry. Wednesday's figure has increased the overall infection tally to 1,782,566, the ninth highest in the world, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the Ministry, this was the fourth consecutive day of infection spike.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2020 06:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).