ARCHIVED - Murcia Education minister will refuse her coronavirus vaccine
Mabel Campuzano says that she doubts the efficiency and safety of the vaccines being used
The recent appointment of Mabel Campuzano as minister for Education and Culture in the re-designed regional government of Murcia has already caused a good deal of controversy, due principally to her political idealogy and position as former representative of far-right political party Vox in the regional assembly, and the debate surrounding her became even more heated on Tuesday when she stated that she will not be accepting her opportunity to receive a coronavirus vaccination.
Speaking in a radio interview, Sra Campuzano declined to urge members of the public to receive their jabs on the grounds that it would be hypocritical: “I am not going to publicly defend the vaccine and then refuse to receive it myself”, she explained, adding that to do so would not be right.
“I am not saying anything against the vaccine, I am just saying that I am not going to be vaccinated”, she reiterated before adding that if in the end the authorities manage to convince her that innoculation will solve the crisis and there are absolutely no side effects than she will change her mind.
Sra Campuzano also added that she is not against vaccines in general, she merely has doubts about this one: “I am not against the theory of evolution and I have not gone back to the days of Atapuerca”, she explained, referring to the caves in northern Spain which are known to have been inhabited by early hominids up to a million years ago.
There has been considerable concern in some quarters about the appointment of the former member of the far-right Vox party as the head of Education in Murcia, as she is a supporter of a scheme referred to as the “PIN parental”. This obliges schoolteachers to obtain permission from the parents of all students before organizing any classroom activity involving the participation of people from outside the teaching staff, making it difficult for talks to be given by members of minority groups as teachers seek to broaden the outlook of their pupils.