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Gibraltar to vaccinate its Spanish cross-border workers

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
Gibraltar to vaccinate its Spanish cross-border workers
Gibraltar. Image: JORGE GUERRERO / AFP

Gibraltar said it will offer a coronavirus vaccine to the roughly 15,000 cross-border workers who commute daily from Spain to work in the tiny British territory.

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Gibraltar announced the move today, March 5th, in a bid to immunise those who work in the overseas territory, but don't live there.  

Nearly half of Gibraltar's population of around 34,000, or 15,155 people, have already received the required two doses of a coronavirus vaccine since the enclave on Spain's southern tip began its immunisation campaign on January 9th, the government of Gibraltar said in a statement.

"As we come to the final stages of vaccinating the resident population, we will very soon...offer vaccination to frontier workers. We are compiling lists for those who wish to be vaccinated," it added.

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The majority of the roughly 15,000 people who cross into Gibraltar each day to work are Spanish nationals but there are also dozens of other nationalities, including about 2,500 Britons who live in Spain where housing is cheaper than in Gibraltar.

Despite its proximity to hard-hit Spain, Gibraltar only recorded its first death from Covid-19 in mid-November.

But infections began to soar in December, with the death toll now standing at 93 from over 4,200 cases.

Lockdown measures and the start of vaccinations have significantly lowered the number of cases per 100,000 people, which at one point was one of the highest in Europe.

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