Decline in Spanish COVID-19 infections slows

MADRID - An eight-week decline in Spain's coronavirus infection rate has begun to tail off, Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Wednesday, pointing to younger people who are less likely to be vaccinated as the cause.

"The stagnation of the decline we have been seeing is heavily influenced by the epidemic in population groups below the age of 50," she told a news conference after a weekly meeting of regional health chiefs. Unlike neighbouring France, which plans to offer vaccines to all adults from May 31, Spain is progressively working its way downwards through age groups and has just begun giving shots to people aged 50-59.