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MADRID (Reuters) - Spain has given a full two-shot course of coronavirus vaccines to almost all its elderly nursing-home residents, the FED care-home association said on Friday, restoring some sense of security to the most vulnerable section of the population.
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Separately, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the country, which has administered 2.8 million doses and fully inoculated 1.14 million people, was on track to vaccinate 20 million people in the first half of 2021 out of a population of 47 million.
Nearly 43,000 care-home residents died of COVID-19 or suspected infection in the devastating March-May first wave of contagion, and prosecutors are investigating more than 200 cases of potential criminal negligence at such homes.
Spain close to vaccinating all nursing-home residents, on track for summer goals whbl.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from whbl.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
UPDATE 1-Spain opens 200 criminal inquiries into care home pandemic failings Reuters 1/21/2021
(Adds quotes, reaction from care home association)
By Belén Carreño and Nathan Allen
MADRID, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Spain s public prosecutor is investigating more than 200 cases of potential criminal mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic at nursing homes, where the virus spread almost unchecked during the devastating first wave.
Angel Juarez, whose 95-year-old mother Leonor died from the virus at a Barcelona care home, sued the regional health department over alleged mismanagement of such facilities for the elderly and infirm. It s not about political beliefs, everything failed. It is a matter of justice: they died an undignified death, he told Reuters by phone. We want to shine a light on the negligence and clarify who was responsible.