Spain cannot confine the unvaccinated: “It would violate fundamental rights”

Spain has no legal umbrella to confine people who have not been vaccinated, around four millions, as is happening, since this past Monday, in Austria. This is how he explains it to ‘El Periódico de España’ Jorge Rodríguez-Zapata, former magistrate of the Supreme court, who recalls that currently the legal framework in Spain does not establish the obligation of vaccination and impose a confinement to the Austrian, it would be ruled out in our country. “It would violate fundamental rights,” affirms Rodríguez-Zapata.

Europe is on alert for the advance of covid-19. The threat of a sixth wave, in which different countries seem to be already mired by low vaccination rates, has forced some governments to adopt drastic measures. In Austria, with an “extremely low” vaccination rate according to the country’s authorities, since this week, people who have not been immunized against the virus – some two million citizens – must remain confined, according to a regulation agreed between the Federal government and regional administrations.

Those affected by this pioneering measure – towards which other countries are already looking, such as Germany, which is also studying a partial confinement of people who have not been immunized – they must be at home except for essential activities, such as going to work, to the doctor or to make purchases of basic products. Only those under the age of twelve, pregnant women and those who can demonstrate that they have passed the coronavirus in the last six months, are exempt from this measure. Failure to comply with it entails fines of up to 500 euros, which would amount to 3,600 in the case of companies that do not comply.

The Spanish scene

In Spain, some autonomous communities, immersed these days in the debate of whether or not they should extend the requirement of a covid passport to access certain places or events before the rebound of cases that our country also lives, they also look towards Austria with some envy.

This is the case of Andalusia – with more than half a million people who have refused to be vaccinated – where the Minister of Health and Families, Jesús Aguirre, admitted this week his admiration for the forceful measures adopted in this country. In a much harsher tone, the Cantabrian president, Miguel Angel RevillaHe has also declared himself a staunch defender of the obligation to vaccinate everyone “by hook or by crook, for civil or military“.

However, such an option is completely ruled out in Spain, the former magistrate Rodríguez-Zapata tells this newspaper. Currently the legal framework in our country does not establish the obligation of vaccination, remember. In fact, since the start of the campaign, almost a year ago, the Government made it clear that receiving the doses would always be a voluntary option and that, based on experience in immunization campaigns, reaching this assumption It would not be necessary.

First of all, because, abundantly, this imposition could only be established by means of an organic law that could lead to problems of constitutionality. “Banning is very easy, but fundamental rights are fundamental rights and we are free citizens“, says the former magistrate.

Insubordinate toilets

Ours is a country that leads the world ranking of immunization, so that unvaccinated health workers suppose a residual figure, according to professional associations. It is also true that, since there is no official statistics, it is not known how many there are. Some communities, like Galicia or Andalusia, they have been insisting for months that this obligation be a reality in certain professions as it already happens in neighboring countries, the last one being United Kingdom.

It is in the latter case, when the former magistrate Jorge Rodríguez-Zapata considers that if the Spanish Government followed a measure similar to the one adopted by the Austrian, it would be “welcome”. “It does not seem unreasonable in this case; even in a company; if you have several workers and one does not want to be vaccinated, it could make sense, but today there is no organic law in that sense, “he concludes.

This same Tuesday, the Catalan Federation of the Intellectual disability (Dincat) again appealed to the regional government to carry out a legal reform that establishes compulsory vaccination among those professionals who attend to groups at risk. The entity defends that “it is a necessary measure to guarantee the right to protect the health of the people we accompany, a circumstance that in times of pandemic such as the current one should prevail.”

Covid passport requirement

The truth is that the forceful and pioneering measure applied by Austria has generated a wide debate in the last days. Along the same lines, the second vice president and counselor of Health and Social Services of the Junta de Extremadura, Jose Maria Vergeles, considered this Monday that, at present, it would be “difficult” to confine unvaccinated people following the Austrian example, for example, because there is no “no legal umbrella” to be able to take that measure.

The lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, also asked for a uniform decision on the possibility of establishing the mandatory vaccine for certain professional groups, as is being done in other parts of Europe, or on the requirement of the ‘covid passport’. In fact, the Autonomous government You are going to request authorization from the Superior Court of Justice of the Basque Country (TSJPV) to be able to use this certificate.

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The president of the Valencian Community, Ximo Puig, has also announced that “it will accelerate the legal process“To implement this health passport and other communities – which for the moment are not considering expanding the restrictions – are already working in the same direction, such as Catalonia. In Navarra, with the incidence rates highest in the country According to the data provided by Health, they are studying applying the same measures.