Of Spain The Chief of Defense Staff, General Miguel Angel Villaroya, resigned after reporting that he had received the coronavirus vaccine before other priority groups, according to a Reuters report.
Villaroya resigned on Saturday after receiving public reactions for jumping over his tail to be inoculated. Like many other countries, including the United States, Spain has given priority health workers and the elderly, two of the most exposed and vulnerable groups to the virus.
Defense Minister Margarita Robles reportedly spoke with Villaroya after reports of his vaccination were released on Friday to ask if they were true, according to the wire service.
Robles did not explicitly say whether Villaroya received the vaccine in his resignation statement, but said Villaroya “never intended to take advantage of unjustified privileges that damaged the image of the Armed Forces and called into question the general’s honor.” according to Reuters.
Villaroya attended daily press meetings to represent the military and inform the public about how troops were helping its citizens last year, when the pandemic first began.
The wire service reported that the general’s actions affected the image of the Spanish armed forces.
Robles’ statement said that Villaroya “made decisions that he considered correct”, but those decisions “affected the public image of the Armed Forces”.
The news comes as several public figures have caused a stir in the country because they have skipped the priority line in Spain.
The country has also been one of the hardest hit in Europe after France and has seen more than 55,000 deaths since the pandemic began, and cases are still rising. The country has nearly 2.5 million cases of coronavirus.