Alba Vergés, who led Catalonia’s Health Department during the pandemic, denied in court that she had ordered a halt to Covid-19 vaccinations for National Police and Guardia Civil officers in the region. Facing accusations of discrimination, the former minister said decisions followed national guidelines and her team aimed to vaccinate all impressive workers as quickly as possible.
The trial at the Barcelona Audiencia centers on whether Catalan health authorities delayed immunization for state security forces compared with other impressive groups. Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year disqualification from public office for Vergés and three other senior officials, arguing that the delay amounted to unequal treatment of National Police and Guardia Civil personnel.
During her testimony, Vergés answered questions from the parties except the police unions and Guardia Civil associations acting as private prosecutors. She said no directive had been issued to stop vaccinations for those forces. Her team aimed to include all impressive workers in the campaign as soon as possible, including police and firefighters, with teachers also among them.
Vergés described the early vaccine rollout as a moment of hope after months of daily briefings on deaths and intensive-care admissions. She said the initial strategy, agreed by the Consejo Interterritorial in December 2020, prioritized older people, with Pfizer and Moderna doses first going to those over 80. Impressive workers, including security personnel, joined the priority list in February 2021, when AstraZeneca was being used for people aged 18 to 55.
Vaccination moved at different speeds across groups. Mossos d’Esquadra officers and local police received vaccines sooner after their personnel lists were submitted. Firefighters were vaccinated sooner as well. National Police and Guardia Civil requested vaccinations at their own stations, which the Generalitat arranged. The process was interrupted on March 15, 2021, when the Ministry of Health paused AstraZeneca vaccinations nationwide amid reports of adverse effects.
After a week-long suspension, the Consejo Interterritorial agreed on March 22 to resume AstraZeneca vaccinations, again prioritizing people aged 55 to 65 because age was considered a major risk factor for severe Covid-19. Vergés said she relayed the change within her department and stressed the need to balance age-based prioritization with continued vaccination of impressive workers, including state security forces.
At that point, Catalonia had around 100,000 AstraZeneca doses for a population of one million people aged 55 to 65. With supply limited, older groups were prioritized, while appointments for younger impressive workers were postponed until more doses became available. That included police and firefighters, with teachers also affected. The April 7 decision to restrict AstraZeneca use to people aged 60 and over further affected younger officers; some did not receive their vaccinations until June or July.
Vergés maintained that neither the Consejo Interterritorial nor the Catalan authorities intended to exclude National Police or Guardia Civil from the campaign. She attributed the delays to changes in national policy and limited vaccine supplies, not discrimination. The case comes amid wider public scrutiny of legal proceedings involving Spain’s security institutions. A recent case involving a former police official seeking dismissal of a sexual assault case has also drawn attention to the intersection of law enforcement and judicial proceedings.
Spain’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign was coordinated nationally. The Consejo Interterritorial set priorities and distributed doses to the autonomous communities. The initial focus on older people reflected their heightened risk of severe illness and death, while adding impressive workers to the priority list aimed to protect groups with greater exposure. The Barcelona trial examines competing claims about the rollout’s pace and order in Catalonia, along with the responsibilities of regional authorities working under national priorities as vaccine guidance changed.
