Coronavirus: Spain's top military chief steps down after jumping queue for COVID vaccine

Coronavirus: Spain's top military chief steps down after jumping queue for COVID vaccine
Copyright EBU
By Mark Armstrong with AP, EBU
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Spain's top military chief has resigned after it was revealed he and other senior officers jumped the queue for a coronavirus vaccine.

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Spain's top military commander has resigned after a local report revealed he and other high-ranking officers had jumped the queue for a coronavirus vaccine. 

On Saturday, the country's Ministry of Defence confirmed Minister Margarita Robles had accepted the resignation of Chief-of-Staff, General Miguel Angel Villarroya after he violated established protocols. 

He said he offered to step down so as not to damage the image of the armed forces.

The development came after online news site, El Confidencial Digital, reported that Villarroya and other senior figures had broken national protocols for Spain's vaccination strategy, which currently only allows nursing home residents and medical workers to receive the shots.

Several public officials have jumped the vaccine queue in recent weeks despite not belonging to priority immunisation groups.

They included a regional health chief for southeast Murcia, who also resigned.

Spain's number of COVID-19 cases is heading for 2.5m, with confirmed deaths standing at around 53,000, though some observers think fatalities could be much higher.

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