Isha Sesay
THE Balearic government has attempted to block the anti-corruption investigation into the vaccination of senior officials.
An investigation had been opened by the Office for the Fight against Corruption in the Balearic Islands (OAIB) over the controversial claim that six officials in Mallorca working for the Consell de Mallorca and IB-Salut were among the first to be vaccinated against coronavirus in the region.
This included a Consell de Mallorca director, Sofia Alonso, the deputy director of chronic diseases, Angelica Miguelez and the director of nursing, Consu Mendez.
Vaccination coordinator, Carlos Villafafila, also received the vaccine, as well as two primary care managers named Miquel Caldentey and Noelia Martin.
Swiftly after this information was leaked, the government was accused of failing to disclose in their official strategy that these individuals would be included in the first round of vaccinations.
In this, it was clearly specified that health care workers and vulnerable people, such as the the elderly and disabled, would be the first in line.
As part of the probe, the OAIB requested a list of the 130,000 people already vaccinated from the government.
However this was quickly blocked on the grounds that it ‘endangered the European regulations on data protection’.
Government spokesman, Iago Negueruela, said: “We are not trying to protect those allegedly vaccinated irregularly, but it is not justified that a list of 130,000 people has to be provided.”
OAIB director, Jaume Far, responded by saying that without this information, their investigation is left at a standstill.
They wanted the list to confirm that the six officials were vaccinated as well as to see if anyone else working for the government was, including president Francina Armengol.
“If the government refuses to send us this information then we will have a lot of difficulty carrying out our investigation,” said Far.
Today, Balearic PP party leader, Biel Company, said the refusal was a ‘cover up’ and showed a ‘lack of transparency’ from the government.
“Their excuse is not valid, since the Anti-Corruption office guarantees confidentiality and the protection of all information received.
“Why do they want to hide the names of those vaccinated? Could we be surprised and find that a very important person in the community was vaccinated at a time when they shouldn’t have been?” asked Company.
At the time the names of the officials were disclosed publicly, the Balearic government said that these vaccinations were ‘absolutely necessary’.
Healthcare director, Eugenia Carandell, said that although none of the vaccinated officials worked ‘day-to-day in nursing homes’, they do all ‘work in the direct management of the pandemic so need to be protected’.
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