Ambulance workers push a wheelchair with a patient at a nursing home during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Leganes Madrid, near Madrid, Spain, April 2, 2020. — Reuters pic

MADRID, Nov 10 — Spain would get the first vaccines against Covid-19 developed by US pharmaceuticals Pfizer and its partner BioNTech in early 2021, Health Minister Salvador Illa said today.

The country would initially get 20 million vaccine doses, enough to immunise 10 million people, Illa said in an interview with state broadcaster TVE.

The vaccination would be free for everyone, Illa added.

Enough people would be vaccinated by April-May, so that the fight against the pandemic in Spain would move to another stage, Illa added.

The Spanish government will act to convince the substantial portion of the population who is wary of the vaccine.

"We will tell the truth, which is that vaccines save lives,” Illa said.

News yesterday ythat a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech was more than 90 per cent  effective sparked a wave of optimism around the world. — Reuters