The Covid-19 vaccines of two Spanish princesses in the United Arab Emirates – long before they were received in Spain – have been controversial since the digital newspaper El Confidencial de Madrid first reported the news.
Several Spanish ministers on Wednesday publicly criticized the two princesses, Elena and Cristina, recently vaccinated while visiting their father, former Spanish King Juan Carlos, in Abu Dhabi, where he lives.
Shortly after the criticism, Princess Elena issued a statement saying she was “responding to media reports about vaccination.”
“My sister (Cristina) and I, who had gone to visit our father (in Abu Dhabi) and with the aim of getting a health passport that would allow us to visit him regularly, were offered the vaccine and we accepted it “.
The statement concludes that if it had not been for the circumstances, the princesses would have waited their turn to get the vaccine in Spain.
A spokesman for the royal house noted that Princesses Elena and Cristina, despite being sisters of King Philip, have not had any official obligations as members of the royal family at least since 2014.
The spokesman also stressed that the king, queen and their two daughters strictly follow Covid’s health guidelines in Spain and will “wait their turn” for vaccines in Spain, depending on their ages and health conditions. .
Spain, like other European Union countries, has had delays in its vaccine program due to limited supply. He has also seen several government officials and some Roman Catholic clergymen jumping their tails to get vaccinated. Several of them later publicly apologized and some resigned.
Data from the Ministry of Health show that only 1.4 million people in Spain have received doses of Pfizer / BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, along with some others receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, in a population of about 47 million.