The Department of Health changed its criteria and prioritized vaccinating those over 60 and 65 years of age before agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard of Catalonia, as well as other groups considered essential. The decision was made just the day before the device planned to immunize the agents was launched once the Government gave the green light to the vaccination with Astrazeneca of the 60 to 65 year old group after a twelve-day break due to the appearance of cases of thrombi caused by the viral. The device was prepared and agreed between those responsible for Health and CNP and the Civil Guard to begin mass vaccination on March 25, 2021, but just the day before the ministry, after the Interterritorial Health Council was held, changed the criteria and eliminated the prioritization of essential groups to focus on the elderly, between 60 and 65 years old, who had a higher risk of mortality. Until that moment, only essential groups could be vaccinated with Astrazeneca for those under 55 years of age. This is stated in the documentation to which La Vanguardia has had access from the judicial case that investigates whether those responsible for Salut committed a crime of prevarication and against the rights of workers by not vaccinating the agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard in Catalonia at the same rate as the Mossos d’Esquadra.
The investigating court 3 of Barcelona has a case open in which several officials from the Ministry of Health are accused, such as Josep Maria Argimon or Carmen Cabezas, visible faces of the vaccination campaign, who were secretary of Public Health and deputy director general of Promoted Health. This week, the Prosecutor’s Office has asked the judge to transfer to the TSJC the suspicions that former Minister Alba Vergès was the one who gave the order to stop the vaccination of the National Police and the Civil Guard after finding a message provided by Argimon in which she made it explicit. . During the investigation, all the accused former Salut officials have denied having given that order. Even so, it should be noted that a month later – on April 21 – the Ministry of Health adopted the same decision as the Government to give priority to the group of 60 to 65 ahead of the essential ones.
In Catalonia, agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard received the first doses of the coronavirus vaccines later than the members of the Mossos d’Esquadra, firefighters, teachers and other groups considered essential because the Generalitat did not manage his data and he had to ask for it. That delayed the process.
On February 10, 2021, Salut began the immunization of essential groups after the arrival of the Astrazeneca doses. In the case of the Mossos d’Esquadra and the local police, Salut requested the data and the Ministry of the Interior sent a file on each of the officials, they were summoned via SMS in a process that those responsible described as “efficient.” and fast”. On the other hand, vaccination for the National Police and the Civil Guard was done through a slower process. Salut proposed vaccinating them in their facilities, in a group manner and that they themselves summon the staff. This entire mechanism was defined in several meetings. The first meeting was held at the Ministry of the Interior on March 4 and was attended by a chief inspector of the CNP technical service and the lieutenant colonel chief of the personnel section of the Civil Guard as well as those responsible for Health. A mixed formula was agreed upon. The staff would receive the doses in vaccination spaces and they would also propose other areas of their own, which had to be validated by Salut, to vaccinate a large number of personnel. In addition, they would send the data of the people to be vaccinated in each space so that they could be entered into a census. The idea was to vaccinate them all in three days. Once the census of troops has been prepared, the dates for administering the vaccines would be set. During this process, there were dysfunctions when transmitting and receiving data and with the preparation of the census, discrepancies in the lists, changes in criteria in the distribution of vaccines, such as the paralysis of the Astrazenca administration on December 12. March.
The CNP and Civil Guard agents were scheduled to receive the doses on March 25, 26 and 29, a month and a half after the Mossos began. The day before, March 24, everything was ready but Salut changed the criteria. On April 27, the TSJC ordered Salut to vaccinate police officers and civil guards, considering that they had been discriminated against. Salut has always maintained that the decisions were for public health reasons.
