Madrid, Spain

After several countries started mass vaccination drive, Spain, too, has decided to start immunising people against the novel coronavirus from December 27.

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The mass vaccination drive will be starting a day after the country receives its first doses of the coronavirus vaccine, the country's health minister Salvador Illa announced on Friday.

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Spain locals will be receiving doses of the approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against the novel coronavirus. While the government will be giving access to everyone for the vaccine, the officials are still urging locals to make sure they follow the existing COVID-19 regulations.

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"This is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, not the end, so we must continue to keep our guard up," Salvador Illa said.

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As per the initial plans laid out by the government, elderly locals and staff members in the nursing homes will be given preference for the vaccine. After the hospital staff and elderly residents, health workers and other people prone to the virus will be receiving the next doses.

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The Spanish government has estimated vaccinating 15-20 million out of a population of 47 million people by the end of the month of June. 

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This statement came a day after the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to begin vaccinating the people of European countries between December 27-29. Spain, like the rest of the EU, will be relying on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for now.

Spain was one of the worst hit countries of the continent as more than 1.7 million were infected by the virus, taking nearly 48,000 lives.