Josefa Perez, 89, on Sunday becomes the first woman to be vaccinated in Spain's Catalonia region, at the Feixa Llarga residence in Barcelona. Photo: Pau Venteo/Europa Press via Getty Images
Spain is creating a registry of people who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccination and will share this with other European Union member states, the country's Health Minister Salvador Illa told broadcaster La Sexta Monday.
The big picture: Spain become on Monday the fourth European nation to surpass 50,000 deaths from the coronavirus, after the United Kingdom, Italy and France, per Johns Hopkins. It's confirmed nearly 1.9 million cases. Illa said vaccinations are free and not mandatory. Data on those who refuse inoculation won't be publicly disclosed "and it will be done with the utmost respect for data protection," he added.
Flashback: Spain becomes first nation in Western Europe to exceed 1 million COVID-19 cases