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Trial Opens for Ex‑Catalan Health Minister Over Alleged Delay in Police Vaccinations

The case will determine whether vaccine scheduling in March 2021 was an unlawful, discriminatory decision that could bar senior health officials from public office.

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Inicio del proceso de vacunación a policías y guardias civiles en Cataluña en 2021.
La Audiencia retira el delito que implicaba penas de cárcel para Vergés y Argimon por retrasar la vacunación de los policías durante la covid
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Overview

  • The trial began on Tuesday in the Audiencia de Barcelona and is scheduled to run through July 15 with preliminary hearings, witness testimony and final arguments.
  • The Public Prosecutor accuses Alba Vergés and three former health officials of having 'paralyzed' vaccination of Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil in March 2021 and seeks 12 years of disqualification for prevaricación.
  • Police unions Jupol and Jucil, acting as popular accusers, seek harsher penalties including three years' prison and 15 years' disqualification but the court has ruled out the workers’‑rights charge that could have led to imprisonment.
  • Defendants say the vaccination calendar was coordinated with the Spanish ministry and other regions and that decisions followed sanitary criteria to protect the most vulnerable rather than discriminate against state police.
  • Prosecutors point to large March 2021 coverage gaps—about 2.8% of Guardia Civil and 3.6% of Policía Nacional were vaccinated versus roughly 77% of Mossos and local police—and the fiscal office has asked for the acquittal of one former services director, Francesc Xavier Rodríguez.